MUNICH (Reuters) – The European Union has stated plans to join forces with the defence industries working within the bloc to accelerate and scale up the production of ammunition badly needed on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Bolstered stocks would also replenish military supplies at home, its chief said on Saturday. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the bloc should do what it did during the pandemic to prepare for the large-scale production of a Covid-19 vaccine.
"We could think of how advanced purchase agreements can give the defence industry the possibility to invest in production lines now. This will allow them to work more quickly and increase the amount they can deliver," von der Leyen said.
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The Commission President underlined that the bloc could not wait months and years to be able to replenish its own military stocks or send munitions such as 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine.
"Now is really the time to speed up the production and to scale up the production of standardized products that Ukraine needs desperately, such as standardized ammunition."
