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NATO pledged to boost its defense industry on Wednesday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine created a vast demand for more supplies in the war-torn country and across the alliance that has outstripped NATO’s ability to produce weapons and ammunition.
“We have not been able to produce the kind of capabilities in the volumes that we need, either for our own deterrence and defense, or to support Ukraine,” a senior NATO official told journalists, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Defense Industrial Commitment commits NATO members to ensuring that members do not place trade barriers in the alliance’s defense market, that they jointly purchase weapons whenever possible, and that they work more closely with Ukraine and NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners in defense production.
A key part of the commitment is to standardize weapons across the alliance: the war in Ukraine showed that even standard 155mm ammunition often has small differences, meaning it cannot be used in the artillery of different countries.
“It’s bad for the military commander because it means you have different ammo containers and increase your supply lines. It’s just terrible,” the employee said. Ammunition purchases across the alliance will now be subject to standardized guidelines, the official added.
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The new commitment is a recognition that the West has so far struggled to grow its defense industrial base. The EU’s promise to send one million artillery rounds to Ukraine by March will only be fulfilled by end of this yearand European countries scoured the world for ammunition cartridges still on sale, even as prices rose.
NATO officials are determined to correct this and say the alliance is on track to produce about 2 million rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition this year, and could reach 3 million rounds by 2025. “It’s not enough, but it is a large increase,” the report said. officer said. While the aim is not to “strictly surpass Russia in raw terms, we need to be able to produce what we need for NATO deterrence and defense and to supply Ukraine,” he added.
Members are also motivated by the desire to reduce the Western defense industry’s dependence on Chinese components. An internal NATO agreement agreed several weeks ago to reassess NATO’s military supply chains warned of the threat of China potentially strangling the flow of essential components. Although China was not explicitly mentioned in Wednesday’s commitment, its dominance in key parts of the supply chain informed background discussions, the official said.
