The UK will spend £245 million throughout the next year to procure and invigorate supply chains to produce urgently needed artillery ammunition for Ukraine.
According to a press release from the British Government, the UK will spend nearly a quarter of a billion pounds throughout the next year to procure and invigorate supply chains to produce urgently needed artillery ammunition to boost Ukraine’s reserves.
“Today’s £245 million announcement comes exactly two years to the day since Putin launched his illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine – with artillery having proved critical to Ukraine’s battlefield successes, continuously degrading Russia’s forces and preventing them from making significant breakthroughs.
Ukraine has been particularly noted for its highly effective use of its artillery to conduct counter-battery fire – using drones and UK-supplied radar systems to quickly identify the locations of active Russian artillery and rapidly return fire to destroy them.
The UK has been leading international support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) for ten years since Russia first invaded Crimea in 2014, training more than 60,000 new recruits since 2015 and committing almost £12 billion in economic, humanitarian, and military aid since 2022.”
In an update to Parliament on Thursday, the Defence Secretary confirmed delivery of an additional 200 Brimstone anti-tank missiles to the AFU, bringing the total number of Brimstone provided to Ukraine to more than 1,300 – further building on the UK’s enduring support to Ukraine – having been the first country to announce it would provide modern, Western tanks in the form of Challenger 2 and the first country to provide long-range precision strike missiles in the form of Storm Shadow.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said:
“Two years ago to the day, Putin defied all rationality and regulation to launch his reckless and illegal full-scale invasion – throwing tens of thousands of unprepared and unwitting troops into what he described as a limited military operation. But as the war now enters its third year, the steadfast determination and resilience of the brave people of Ukraine continues to inspire the world.
Against all odds, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have pushed back the Russian invaders to recapture half of the land Putin stole, while significantly degrading Russia’s capabilities – with around 30 per cent of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet destroyed or damaged, and thousands of tanks and armoured vehicles reduced to scrap.
But they cannot win this fight without the support of the international community – and that’s why we continue to do what it takes to ensure Ukraine can continue to fight towards victory. Nearly a quarter of a billion pounds’ worth of UK funding will boost their critical stockpiles of artillery ammunition, while the Royal Air Force completes a further delivery of advanced tank-busting missiles. Together, we will ensure Putin fails, and a victory for democracy, the rules-based international order, and the Ukrainian people.”
Desperately needed and won’t be enough by itself but good news nonetheless.
Any idea someone how many shells the equates to?
Russia is aiming for 4 million shells this year. Ukraine would need half that as a minimum probably. I’m assuming it doesn’t get that many.
At an average cost of £3000 each. Could be higher in the U.K.
90,000 shells
I wonder how much difference it makes that the UK/BAE stuff is made to a really high standard.
Surely it must help accuracy?
Certainly will be a factor the North Korean shells for example, are deemed very inaccurate and most of the Russian artillery itself, certainly the older stuff which forms the bulk, has no real accuracy anyway. It makes up for that with applying shear mass. It’s certainly why Ukraine can with Western artillery and munitions do far more with far less. But of course mass is a quality in itself and I agree that they ideally need about half of what the Russians have to gain any overall advantage or perhaps equality. But only those at the front know for real… Read more »
Combine that with blowing up a lot of Russian ammunition before it gets fired and 90% of the remainder is used to scare the trees and pockmark the ground it is more the General Rubble style of warfare. Contrast that to one/two shots per kill by shooting at workable ranges using NATO weapons. The biggest problem is how dug in the Russians are and how to blow paths in those minefields. How about a long tube that self inflates using water and has HE strips on the bottom. The water provides the unrolling mechanism and it is steerable by the… Read more »
The likes of the British Giant Viper (Replaced by the Python) have anchor and winch fitted on the end, this allows the tube to be pulled taut and straightened out before detonation.
So do you fire out a ground anchor with a messenger wire and then use that to deploy the tube?
Otherwise getting to where the anchor can be would seem to me the fundamental obstacle?
The big issue is still lack of air superiority and support to ensure the Russians keep their heads down and kin their trenches …. Ukraine knows a bit about mine clearing mines but the Russians fields are so deep trying to get through whilst under fire is suicidal and when they fall back the Russians replace what has been cleared
I’m perfectly sure the Ukrainians do have some expertise – even if developed on the job.
It was so stupid being slow to provide Ukraine with arms so the Russians could dig in and recreate WW2.
I agree …. We were quick at giving them what we thought they needed and not what they knew they needed and asked for.
Once we realised that Ukraine wasn’t folding and especially when they launched that first counter attack we really should have started pouring in everything for last spring/summer’s offensive…
The irony is that the war would have been won and it would have cost less £€$ and note importantly less lives and would have finished Putin in the view of all Russians.
Sadly we now have a cornered rat that is making friendships with all the worlds undesirables.
This is the problem. After Kharkiv and Kherson we in the West became complacent. We assumed that Ukraine would repeat the same level of blistering success in their counterattacks last year as in 2022, ignoring the fact that Ukraine was up against extensive prepared defences that were not in place in 2022 in Kharkiv and Kherson. The assumption seems to have been that Ukraine had this sorted, would punch through to Melitopol despite not having air superiority, enough modern MBTs and armoured vehicles and not enough artillery to suppress the Russians. We assumed wrong. I think Ukraine should repeat the… Read more »
Steve… You’re 100% spot on and talking of complacency….. It doesn’t get any more complacent that 2 years on we are still not on a war footing for arms production… Now we know Russia has shown itself to be a paper tiger but we didn’t know that early Feb 2022….. Just imagine the Russians were as good as we thought they might and that if Ukraine had fallen in 2-3 days and the Russians hadn’t stopped there and empowered by their success pushed into Moldovia or God Forbid the Balkans and dragged us into a war with the limited amounts… Read more »
Slightly OT. I heard President Biden say at a podium that he had pulled together a coalition of over 40 nations to oppose the Russian invasion and support Ukraine. Is that true? We stepped up to the plate without being asked to by the US. We were training the Ukrainian Army from 2015, in the immediate wake of the Russian seizure of Crimea. We were the first nation to offer tanks – UKR has had them for about a year, but Abrams did not arrive in-country until late Sep 23. US military aid is being held up in the House… Read more »
Depends who was the audience? Leaders can say things to make them look good. It could be a specific agreement or condemnation that the USA for others to go along with. So many variables that is true in one way but wrong in another.
American history works differently: freedom was invented in 1776 and WW2 started in 1941..
Ukraine cannot wait for the U.K. supply chain to gear up. They need artillery NOW. We should also be going shopping to procure 155mm ammo for their immediate use. More countries should be following Denmark’s example.
“WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s “indirect” provision of 155-mm artillery shells for Ukraine this year has made it a larger supplier of ammunition for the war-ravaged country than all European countries combined, The Washington Post (WP) reported Monday. In an article on Russia’s protracted war against Ukraine, the U.S. daily explained Washington’s effort to secure munitions from South Korea when the U.S.’ production of shells was barely more than a tenth of some 90,000 shells that Ukraine needed per month. South Korean law prohibits providing weapons to war zones, but U.S. officials sought to persuade Seoul to provide… Read more »
It seriously,seriously annoys me when some countries are quite happy to flog weapons on the worlds arms markets then act all goodie two shoes by not selling the ammunition that they need to be used once a shooting war has started …. God almighty that’s when you need them the most
Exactly Peter.
Indeed, it’s all about the numbers not just the high tec equipment. Will the last person in Russia please remember to turn off the lights! Russia has lost more than 350,000 soldiers – but it’s managed to replace its losses “Russia has lost its entire original invasion force over the course of the war, with more than 350,000 soldiers killed and wounded, the UK’s defence ministry has said. In its latest update, the MoD said Russia deployed around 130 Battalion Tactical Groups for its invasion of Ukraine, which equates to at least 1,300 tanks, 5,000 infantry fighting vehicles and… Read more »
It is a big concern that Russia uses attrition tactics.
Clearly they have a head start on us with reserves, manufacturing capacity and quick procurement from their allies.
As you say its not only about how many troops and pieces of equipment you can knock out in battle, It is also about how quickly you can recruit, build new equipment and ammo and get it into the battle and I hate to say it but I think that is now shown to be a weak point which Putin and other dctators can observe and exploit.
Exactly Bringer of Facts, most Western countries would have hoisted the white flag by now and retreated.
Big wake up call to start investing in military industry and reserves Doing nothing is not a alternative.
🙏
You clearly are not a student of British history. Doing nothing until it is too late is our forte.
You wouldn’t want our armed forces to actually go into a fight reasonably prepared would you?
I am very aware of Britsh history, I just do not want to see those mistakes repeated.
Me too but unfortunately what is patently obvious to many on here is not obvious to the politicians , which is why we haven’t had an honest , non treasury led Defence review for decades. Defence until now is not sexy or a vote winner,
Health, education, social services etc do not matter a tinkers whatsit, if we cannot defend the country or its interests.
However the recent noises are encouraging.
In WW2 it was our manufacturing that saved us, German manufacturing techniques were nowhere near as effiecient as UK or US. They had teams of people who made one tank rather than production lines, Production lines are way more efficient as you only need to show one person how to do one task the tank moves the the next station a worker does another task. Having a team of people build one tank you need them to be skiiled in so many tasks. Hitler refused to adopt Western capitalist manufacturing techniques until it was too late. So its not that… Read more »
👍Certainly!
We should open another Shell production line in S. Wales next to the existing Port Talbot Steel works with its traditional blast furnaces.
Disbursing our armaments production would be a good move anyway. It would also save many jobs under threat.
Someone should tell the politicians you can’t run a war on net zero or much else for that matter until we have the alternative power to do it.
They can stamp them with a red dragon and hope Putin gets into the fiery furnace to which he is headed. What is not to like?
Strangely enough, there was a RO shell factory in Bridgend which is about 22 miles from Port Talbot. Closed after WW2
Seems a logical place for dispersal and transport of ingots from Port Talbot. I wish the Government would give defence production more priority. The Russians have switched to a full on War economy. This war has been going on for two years and we need to wake up double quick. The government are subsidising the owners of Port Talbot on two big projects, Lithium Batteries and and Electrification of Port Talbot at the huge loss of jobs. A shell factory would give work to many I’m sure. Should never have closed Royal Ordinance and sold off so many of the… Read more »
As was clearly demonstrated in the cold war Russia cannot hope to outspend the West. Putin is rapidly burning through not only his own Cold War stockpile, but that of North Korea too. Modern Russia and their axis do not have the economic and industrial means to replace the finite cold war stocks at anything near the current rate of attrition.. All that’s needed is for Western Nations (and particularly the USA) to pull their finger out. That requires unblocking political deadlock and crushing the fifth column (Trump, Orban, Fico, etc.) that are causing it. Ironically Putin is actually facilitating… Read more »
I am not so optimistic, Never underestimate your enemy. Channel 4’s economic editor reported a few days ago that Russia sold $168 billion worth of oil last year and their economy is set to grow 2.8% this year. Also this year their manufacturing is going on to a war economy footing, so NATO countries must follow suit or be left behind, the game here is attrition. Right now it is Europe that lacks military-industrial capacity. “All that’s needed is for Western Nations (and particularly the USA) to pull their finger out.” Delivering from stockpiles is one thing, being able to… Read more »
An interesting point. Recently read an article re an unilateral authority of POTUS. Each year (either FY or CY) POTUS can authorize the sale of a maximum of $500M in Excess Defense Articles (EDA), essentially obsolete/surplus equipment, etc., to whomever designated. Further, POTUS is the final authority re value. Separately, there are a publicly undisclosed number of DPICM 155mm in storage. Although not a signatory of the Cluster Munitions Convention, Uncle Sugar has refrained from manufacture/production of these munitions since approximately 2008. The malfunction rate for the munition was assessed to be 2.35%, which was deemed to be unacceptably high.… Read more »
Actually, upon reflection, RAF may choose to shop in the future at the Boneyard for gently used B-1Bs, B-2s, F-22s, etc. 😉 Would require a compliant POTUS.
I doubt with our current government they could afford the shipping
😂
Eh?
Why would RAF want those platforms?
Half the reason to retire them is that they are very high tech and increasingly hard to support.
I’m not sure what F22 offers other, than speed at altitude, that a 6th gen can’t offer?
There comes a point where over out teching the opposition doesn’t make a lot of resource sense.
Rationale? Minimized acquisition cost for a deep strike capability. Tradeoff of higher O&M costs. Parallels the decision tree for virtually all second hand equipment.
Deep strike against whom?
The only country we are likely to take on is China or Russia and we won’t be doing that alone.
F35 is perfectly adequate for Russia’s electronics scrap heap.
I’d just see those legacy platforms as being money pits.
I’d rather we bought more Typhoon (short term) continued F35 acquisition (to about 80 units) and Tempest longer term. We’d be better off with decent number of those with the pilots to run them hard.
Must agree to disagree re assessment. Disregarding differences in combat radius and payload, acquisition costs for plan would be daunting, unless an assumption is made re future MoD funding reverting to Cold War I level. That is quite possible, but would probably only occur after the commencement of hostilities.
Ummm
24 Typhoon would be £2.4Bn
24 F35B would be £2.4Bn – already in the calculus
Tempest is in the works
£2.4Bn is half the last defence uplift.
If we got your boneyard then we would need pilots anyways.
This way sustainment is already trained and the part bin logistics OCU has a budget line..
China has seen value in it converting old J7 to unmanned plaforms, I’m not convinece the old platforms mentioned are useful but fly say 100 old airframes at your enemy and force them to use 100 missiles to take them out it has a value. If you can do cheaper than building a decoy then why not.
The current equivalent of a ZERO fighter?
B-1Bs,would be nice 🙏
I agree especially if it is modified as per Dale Brown specs !!
I wonder what we would do with them, we would need serious stand off weapons and probably serious EW assets to make them really useful even then it might be high risk, US can afford all that not sure it would be the best use of our resources though.
If you read the Dale Brown books his fictional B1B were essential Airborne battleships capable of looking after themselves in ANY threat environment.
Fiction but possible !!
Personally I’d say give them all our remaining AS90s and half our ammunition, then we can purchase additional Archer SP artillery from Sweden to replace it.
I am all for Denmark’s attitude, give them everything. We have 3 to 4 years to rearm .
But I agree,
Good news ,Hopfuly we stock up for our selfs has our war chests is Empty 😕 🇬🇧
Does anyone actually know how big the U.K. stocks are currently? Folks assume they are empty but I doubt it.
They must be getting depleted, with slow and low rate production meaning replenishment will take years….if ever. The true state of stockpiles quite rightly is a secret. With that said I think the Tory government have been absolutely shockingly terrible, bordering on treason. In their response to a the Russian threat. Where is the determination to match Russia? Where are the rearmament plans and investment? When are we going to wake upto the fact the world changed 2 years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine? It wouldn’t take much, just going to 3% GDP to defence ratio to repair the terrible… Read more »
Absolutely 🍺
Ever hopeful that we may see the increases desired after an election. Whoever wins needs to get a grip and stop the shrinking.
Wouldn’t bet on it 🙄 however hope your right.
We had a lot more of some things like NLAWS than anyone thought we had.
Generally sticks are rotated so low rate ordering is part of it and stocks are expended (fired) before shelf life is up to avoid disposal costs.
Stocks of what, exactly?
Well it was reported that we’d about enough shells in stock for something like a 4 month war
Endless calls for a ceasefire in Gaza but strangely enough never one for Ukraine? 🤔🤔
The Ukraine government has offered a cease fire. Once the Russians withdraw out of international recognised Ukraine territory.
Many Russians would quite rightly disagree what is ‘recognised’ as Ukraine territory, many world quite rightly say most if not all of Texas is mexican, but the yanks can get away with it!!
Well it’s not like the USA took Texas last year and peace has been there for a long long time. Russia can say what it wants but it’s wrong. Ukraine pre 2014 was the internationally recognised borders. Even by Russia. Perhaps nato should take kalingkrad and the area Finland lost to the Soviet’s back then. It’s a slippery slope to head down. Simple facts putin got upset with the euromadien protests, outcome and the direction Ukraine was moving in and the leadership that was elected. So he decided to start a war. Sending little green men etc. as usual never… Read more »
Well you’ve pretty much said it yourself what the west want and what this war is really all about, the collapse of Russia, meanwhile a mighty dragon grows ever stronger in the east, even the Americans haven’t got the minerals to take them on, Russia meanwhile is a relatively easy pick on!
Interesting, so it is all the west faults, we compelled Putin to invade a sovereign nation. The rank smell of Russian BS
Btw The mighty dragon’s light has gone out and is in deep financial trouble. I suggest you do your homework.
Wrong on both accounts, do your homework!
I don’t need to I know the state of the Chinese economy . TTFN
Putin Bot. I’m guessing you work on behalf of the FSB and are based in the basement of the Kremlin. Why don’t you stop posting your BS lies here because noone believes them. The posters on this site can think for themselves and don’t need a Putin Bot to try to change the historical facts with a load of lies concocted up in the Kremlin. The so called mighty dragon in the east is a threat but definitely not one the Western world should be frightened of. “Russia is an easy pick on” Yeah right! Russia is a victim….not. Ukraine… Read more »
The next cubical JohnMK…
If the war was about the collapse of Russia it wouldn’t be Russia that started it🙈. That was not what I said. Russia can stop this at anytime. Ukraine cannot decide to stop. If the west wanted Russia to collapse it would be trying a lot harder. The war from the west perspective in my view is about allowing Ukraine to choose its own path in the world. Russia can’t accept that when that the path deviated from loyal support to it so it invaded. Allowing putin to think he can cause war in Europe with no consequences is a… Read more »
Yes, lets say it out loud, the goal is absolutely the terminal collapse of Putin’s Russia and the end of a cancer on the world. Then we will see how much political chaos Putin has been causing all around the world when it all suddenly stops. Of course the Russian economy is being held up on life support by war spending, so it will inevitably implode catastrophically just as soon as hostilities cease. It doesn’t even matter who ‘wins’ the war, the choice for Russia is to collapse hard now, or collapse even harder later. Take your pick. Oh, and… Read more »
“..meanwhile a mighty dragon grows ever stronger in the east…’
So called ‘mighty dragon’s population is now shrinking, and it’s economy is in some trouble!
Then it was pretty stupid of Russia to start a war that compelled the West to want the collapse of Russia as the best bad option. However in reality that is a delusional view as the West has bent over backwards to allow Russia to remain intact (it could have strangled it in the 90s and noughties indeed) if only because a Russia collapsing would be a far more dangerous place with nuclear stockpiles than an intact Russia, at least one with a nominally benign leader or power structure. Sadly Putin for personal and national ‘glory’ wrapped around World domination… Read more »
“The savings dry up, the increase in wages due to low workforce causing inflation, casualties hitting a million are all major issues that will happen.”
Just watched Anders Puck Nielsen’s latest vid?
Perhaps. I do normally watch him and others. I also watch Russia siding commentators occasionally to see what they are saying.
It is roughly what Anders said but I’ve had that view from before his video.
Andres, perun, millennium 7* are all favourites to watch.
Ah haven’t heard of Millennium I’ll check them out thanks.
I can also recommend RedEffect if you ever need a tank accurately identified using six pixels and three frames.
Millennium7* has a great back catalogue on loads of aircraft and related topics.
They are international recognised borders.
Good enough for for the international community is good enough for me. Maybe not a Russian shill.
DeeBee is Johnskis long lost alias.
The FSB school of BS and lies hangs over everything he posts. Utter PutinBot.
I wish this site would just ban them whenever they turn up.
Next DeeBee will be saying the Ukrainian people are grateful for the invasion and are welcoming the Russian liberators with open arms.
Hi Mr Bell, I am not so sure that banning them is such a good idea. Every time they show on here they are quickly detected and called out and that process will be seen by others who visit the site. As such the process helps to highlight the risks online and that we are our selves being ‘attacked’ by Russian propaganda trolls / bots. Also, banning people we don’t agree with is a slippery slope and not one we should go down. Rather I think it should be seen as an opportunity to call out the trolls and shine… Read more »
Fully agree, let them spew and call them out.
Keeping Botski Boris busy here, takes their time away from more impressionable audiences.
I had guessed, they are like Trolls the world over. Not very clever and easily spotted.
But thank you for the confirmation.
I think John in MK perhaps had a bad outcome with his cancer issue or using the site anymore.
Oh dear. Putin Bot alert!
The facts are as follows. After the cold war when the Eastern block collapsed Russia and America both agreed and signed treaties stating they would respect Ukrainian sovereignty and it’s territorial integrity in exchange for Ukraine handing over it’s nuclear arsenal.
Ukrainian territorial borders are recognised by the UN and the international court in the Hague.
Russia’s invasion is illegal.
Russia is guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. That is why there is an international arrest warrant for Putin and many of his henchmen.
Don’t mention the illegal putch ( backed by the west) which started the war, 10 years ago, not 2.
Has Russia stopped believing in revolution then, or is that only when it suits them? At least Yanokovich wasn’t poisoned, like Yushchenko a full ten years before Maidan. There’s no high ground for Russia to stand on there.
The collective west. Who can’t agree on most things or accomplish simple things while working together.
The euromadian protests were by a large majority of the population. The west can’t organise that.
What is so hard to understand that the Ukrainian people saw how well moving closer to the west had benefited their neighbour countries meanwhile their lives hadn’t improved to the same levels.
Patriarch Kirill started this war. He fell out of his pram when the ecumenical meeting of the orthodox Church granted autocephaly to the orthodox Church in Ukraine, reversing the annexation of Kyiv by Moscow in 1686.
Rightly disagree? Russia signed up to the recognised boundaries in the 1990s in exchange for Ukraine giving up their Soviet nuclear weapons. Of course Putin happily ignores his international obligations.
As for Texas being Mexican, ROFLMAO. Do you honestly believe if Texas had a referendum on being American/Mexican/independent, Mexico wouldn’t come a very distant third? Of course that’s the thing about autocracies like Russia: they don’t actually care what citizens think, because they believe citizens are just another resource of the state, to be imprisoned and sent to the front line at the whim of the dictator.
Blame Khrushchev , he gave Ukraine independence and now they do not want to be part of Putins autocratic empire.
Your invasion was not welcomed with open arms, 2 years on the Ukrainiians still fighting , what does that tell you ?
Unfortunately most ruZZians, have only access to Kremlin regime propaganda media!
Quite a lot of countries around Russia and communities within ‘Russia’ wouldn’t agree that much of Russia is actually Russia. Ukraine as the original home of the Rus indeed could claim all European Russia is its territory. Even 19th/20th Century Russian maps show arts of its own Country as ‘Ukraine’ including Crimea interestingly enough. Certainly Kallingrad is only by the most fanciful stretch of the warped imagination actually Russia, so the Country presently should be rather thankful its borders are where they are, I suspect in the future those next to China might be fortunate to remain ‘Russian’ changing borders… Read more »
👍Exactly!
Obviously I don’t want details, but does anybody know if the UK is actually manufacturing on UK soil, ammunition? For example say 155mm shells and propellant charges?
I would like to think the MoD has galvanised UK industry into action to help Ukraine, and to quickly stockpile for what may be fast coming down the tracks. Then again, as a sceptic in these matters, I fear the worse, and the UK is just spending money on ordnance with zero benefit to UK industry.
God yes. We have had these plants since WW2 mate. 3 spring immediately to mind. They’re quite well known!
Phew! Thanks again Daniele. My worry was that it was all being outsourced and what was left of UK production was defunct: left to rack and ruin (“managed decay” in MoD parlance), and environmental/safety concerns in these crowded islands of ours were helping prevent any actual production.
Anybody got any feeling as to the scale of actual UK 155mm shell production and timescale for getting to Ukraine?
IIRC up from 750,000 pa to 1.5 Mn pa i.e. double. Not enough but something..
Thanks.
Regarding the replies to my original comment, the level of thinking on this is about as low as whale shit, oh dear.
Two years to realise that Ukraine (and ourselves, frankly) might need some more ammo. Brilliant. Wonder what else the MoD are taking their sweet time over. Somebody at the MoD clearly thinks Sir Humphrey Appleby is an example to follow rather than (brilliant) satire.
Production was ramped up some time ago.it is just going to take time to reach the levels required , in the case of the UK we started to order more spare parts and munitions before this all started