Europe faces shortage of gunpowder and explosives – Bloomberg

Europe lacks gunpowder and TNT when it needs them most, Bloomberg writes, reports UNN.

Growing demand and limited resources

“European governments have rummaged through their ammunition stocks to arm Ukraine, showing how small their reserves are. Since then, they have been trying to increase the production of artillery shells, missiles and bullets. This has depleted the continent’s stocks of gunpowder, TNT and other explosives and propellants,” the publication notes.

Nitrochemie Aschau, part of the Rheinmetall defense giant, has increased its production capacity by 60% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and is planning to increase it by more than 40% by mid-2025. The plant has already hired about 300 new employees and switched to round-the-clock operation to meet the growing demand for ammunition.

Rheinmetall plans to increase gunpowder production by more than 50% by 2028, but this may not be enough. Supply chains remain complex due to global dependence on raw materials.

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“Shells require two volatile components: propellants used to fire shells; and explosives that detonate. Europe does not produce enough of either to meet its demand,” the publication notes.

The main component of propellants is nitrocellulose, which is made from cotton, most of which is imported from China. Alternative materials, such as wood cellulose, are not produced on the scale required.

There are only a few propellant manufacturers in Europe, including Rheinmetall and French contractor Eurenco. According to ASAP, program, which allocates €500 million to help expand the EU’s ability to manufacture munitions, Europe wants to increase propellant production by more than 50%, or 10,000 metric tons per year, which is equivalent to almost six new plants the size of Nitrochemie Aschau.

Explosives are also in short supply. The EU plans to increase their production by more than 4,300 metric tons, which is estimated to be an increase of more than 30%, but currently has only one large TNT production plant operated by Polish Nitro-Chem, and another is planned to be built in Finland.

Manufacturers of alternative agents such as PETN, HMX and RDX, which are used in plastic explosives, are overloaded.

The future of the European defense industry

The EU plans to allocate EUR 150 billion to defense spending, as well as EUR 1.5 billion under the European Defence Industry Programme. However, experts warn that the situation will not improve without a number of steps. The high cost of converting civilian enterprises to military production, regulatory barriers and complex logistics threaten a rapid expansion of production capacity.

Reducing regulatory hurdles, providing guarantees to companies, and overcoming Europe’s social and fiscal barriers to investment in weapons and their components will be vital to meeting the continent’s needs, experts say. Especially since its biggest strategic threat, Russia, has few of these restrictions.

“We need to rearm everywhere, simultaneously and in large quantities,” says Joachim Peter of Brunswick Group. – An authoritarian state that has switched to a war economy at the expense of the population is simply gaining momentum. Therefore, it should be clear that we need to accelerate the pace.”

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