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Hard-to-find gunpowder is hampering Europe’s scramble to supply hundreds of thousands of shells to Ukraine’s defense efforts against the Russian invaders, and a solution is only just beginning to emerge.
French President: “Now we all realize that we have to face shortages of some components, especially gunpowder.” Emmanuel Macron He said this on Monday after a rally of Kiev’s allies in Paris.
“What’s really missing today is powder,” he added.
Gunpowder is used as a propellant to propel shells, such as the NATO-standard 155mm shells used in many of the guns sent to Ukraine, over distances of tens of kilometers.
“A simple explosive shell consists of three parts: a steel cartridge, a high-explosive main charge, and a detonator,” said Johann Hechel, a munitions expert at the German Military University in Munich. “It is set up to sometimes cause an explosion.” .
“Propellant charges are usually done separately because (gunners) need one or two, up to six, and sometimes eight, depending on the desired range,” he added. Ta.
Although the propellant is still called gunpowder, “these days it’s not gunpowder at all, it’s made of sticks or pellets,” Hochel said.
In a video on its website, German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall describes a stackable propellant cylinder filled with explosive pellets that is inserted behind the shell in the breech of a cannon.
– “Innovation at work” –
Jean-Paul Mauny, deputy director of France’s International Institute for Strategic Relations (IRIS), said the number of gunpowder manufacturers in Europe was very small.
These companies include Eurenco, which has operations in France, Belgium and Sweden, and Nitrochemie, which is majority-owned by Rheinmetall and is based in Germany and Switzerland.
While many countries are promoting bringing production back home, France is proceeding with the process of relocating part of Eurenco’s production base to Bourges, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Paris. ,” Maulney said.
“This is one of the bottlenecks for munitions,” he added. “The biggest question is production volume.”
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton He told reporters in Paris on Friday that the countries also face challenges in finding raw materials for gunpowder.
“You need a specific type of cotton to make the powder, and most of that cotton comes from China,” he says.
Nitrocellulose, also known as gun cotton, is a key ingredient in gunpowder manufacturing.
“As you know, a few months ago, as if by chance, the supply of this cotton from China stopped,” Breton added.
China and Russia have strengthened economic cooperation and diplomatic contacts in recent years, and their strategic partnership has grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine.
In Russia, this week Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong declared that Russian relations were “at the best time in history.”
Breton said: “The Nordic countries have found an alternative to Chinese cotton…Technological innovations are being driven precisely to meet the demand for powder, because…today there is a problem with powder production capacity.”
Breton said companies producing alternative raw materials for gunpowder would be among those selected for grants under the EU’s Ammunition Production Support Act (ASAP), which will be announced next week.
– “On a much larger scale” –
Mr Breton predicted that the EU’s efforts to increase shell production would bring the region’s annual production capacity to between 1.5 million and 1.7 million rounds by the end of this year.
He estimated Russia’s equivalent figure to be “just under 2 million.”
“Everyone is in a position to do larger-scale manufacturing,” says Moulney, the IRIS expert.
“For now, the Ukrainians are short of shells…The Russians are not short because they are getting ammunition from North Korea, but that could happen in the coming months,” he added. .
“No one was prepared for a high-intensity conflict that would involve massive consumption of military equipment. We haven’t seen a war like this since World War II,” Moulney said.
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