Ukraine boosts production of mortar rounds 42-fold, artillery shells almost three-fold – Kamyshin
In Ukraine, the production of mortar rounds has increased significantly, by 42 times, and in artillery shells – an increase of almost three times, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said.
"What worries everyone today is the production of ammunition. I can say that we already have a significant increase in the range of mortar rounds – 42 times, we have an increase in artillery shells – an increase of almost three times. And we are working to grow further," Kamyshin said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The minister said the need of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is much greater, and the constraint on production growth is the scarcity of explosives and gunpowder in the world, not only in Ukraine.
"We are working on starting to produce them. The decisions necessary for this have been made," he said.
Kamyshin said Ukraine would be pleased to attract private companies to the production of explosives and gunpowder.
He also said Ukraine started to produce items that had not been produced for many years, in particular a 125-caliber tank shell and small arms cartridges.
The minister said "the defense industry of Ukraine consists of 300,000 people, some 500 companies, most of which are private (about 400)."
According to him, a million FPV drones per year is realistic. More than 10,000 medium-range attack drones and 1,000 long-range ones, too.
"We produced 42-fold more mortar shells than last year. We started producing small arms cartridges, 73 mm, 125 mm, VOG-17, VOG-25 caliber shells, as well as factory-made ammunition for UAVs. And also self-propelled guns 'Bohdana,' the production rate of which has brought it to the level of the giants of the world's defense industry. The number of 'Stuhna' has become twice as large," the minister said.
He said that of the 4.9% increase in Ukraine's GDP in 2023, some 1.5% has already been provided by the defense industry. The defense industry is already becoming the engine of economic recovery, and it is only gaining momentum.
"We have our first joint venture with a large German concern, there are a number of other forms of cooperation with foreign partners. The share of private business in the defense industry is growing," Kamyshin said.
