Germany and France team up to produce 350,000 artillery shells for Ukraine

The German Bundestag Budget Committee has approved a framework agreement on producing artillery shells.

The state agreed to supply additional ammunition to Ukraine with a French manufacturer, the press release says.

As part of the framework agreement, the French company has already received an order from Germany to produce 68,000 HE-Frag shells for Ukrainian forces worth €278 million.

Such shells are used in the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, which Berlin has previously sent to Ukraine's battlefield.

The French arms maker can produce and transfer up to 350,000 shells to Ukraine. These agreements are part of the EU's initiative to speed up ammunition delivery, procurement, and production.

As recently as mid-October 2023, the German government placed an order with Rheinmetall for over 100,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition earmarked for Ukraine, which will also be produced at the facilities of Rheinmetall Expal Munitions.