(Washington) The US military has announced a nearly $1 billion contract to increase production of 155mm caliber artillery ammunition, used in large quantities by Ukraine.
Defense contractors General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems and American Ordnance will compete for individual ordnance orders under the $993.7 million contract, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The aim is to produce between 12,000 and 20,000 additional artillery rounds per month, she said.
The announcement comes after the military awarded a $522 million contract to order ammunition of the same caliber from two other companies as part of the Pentagon’s Ukraine Assistance package.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 confirmed the return of confrontations between powers, with a massive use of artillery ammunition by the belligerents.
In November, a US official claimed that Russian forces fired around 20,000 rounds a day.
Ukraine was firing between 4,000 and 7,000 rounds a day, faster than Western arms manufacturers can produce to keep up.
Because ammunition takes as long to produce as it quickly runs out.
However, the amount of ammunition used by Ukraine and Russia has since slowed somewhat as winter has set in and both countries face shortages.