United to win: Ukraine and Czechia join forces to produce 155 mm ammunition next year

The Czechoslovak Group and Ukrainian Armor will join forces to manufacture 155-millimeter artillery ammunition in Ukraine. The production is expected to commence in 2025.

The Czechoslovak Group press service reported this.

The companies signed this agreement on October 2 during the International Defense Industry Forum in Kyiv. According to it, the Czech company will provide the Ukrainian manufacturer with the necessary know-how and assistance to launch the production of 155 mm artillery shells directly in Ukraine.

According to the plans, they aim to manufacture 100,000 of these shells by 2025. By 2026, they anticipate the volume will increase to over 300,000. Production will take place in Ukraine and the Czech Republic to expedite the process and reduce the prices of the projectiles. In essence, they will be producing various types of large-caliber ammunition.

The location of the production will not be disclosed for security reasons.

The Czechoslovak Group has aided Ukraine since 2018, providing them with self-propelled howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles. In response to the 2022 invasion, the company also delivered tanks and air defense systems and joined a Czech effort to acquire ammunition for Ukraine.

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According to the Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ukraine needs an amount of artillery ammunition that no country, even the United States, can provide. The state is developing more economically effective methods of maintaining the front. However, several initiatives are currently underway to provide shells from Ukraine's international partners.

According to plans developed in early 2023, the EU promised to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells within 12 months. However, the implementation of the initiative faced problems. According to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, one of the reasons is the "deplorable state of the defense industry" of the EU.

During the Munich Security Conference on February 17, Czech President Petr Pavel announced that his country could procure 500,000 155 mm and 300,000 122 mm rounds in weeks, provided it had the necessary funds.

In total, 15 countries supported the procurement of ammunition for Ukraine outside of Europe.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jan Lipavský, stated that 1.5 million shells could be supplied within the initiative's framework for procuring artillery ammunition for Ukraine.

It is worth adding that the Czech Republic has already identified more than a million units of artillery ammunition in countries outside the European Union, which can be purchased for transfer to Ukraine.

In turn, the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, said that the Czech initiative had gained momentum.

In addition, the Czech Republic plans to extend the mechanism for procuring artillery shells for the Ukrainian army in 2025.