Yesterday at 19:56
Samples of 155mm artillery shells produced in Ukraine are already being tested, and their mass production is to be launched in 2024.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries, said this at a briefing titled “The Performance of the Ministry for Strategic Industries and Ukroboronprom in 2023,” according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
“Ukraine has started developing 155mm shells. We already have prototypes with which we are undergoing tests. We plan to start their mass production next year,” the minister said.
He noted that setting up production depends on partners, primarily suppliers of NATO-standard powders, which are not produced in Ukraine.
“We have mastered some of the elements. But, unfortunately, in this caliber, we are dependent on the supply of scarce gunpowder, which Ukraine has never produced,” Kamyshin said.
In contrast to the 152mm caliber adopted in the USSR, the 155mm caliber is the accepted standard for divisional field artillery in NATO. Ideas on the possibility of Ukraine’s transition to the 155mm artillery caliber, which is the standard for NATO member states, were announced in 2017. Due to them, Ukraine started to develop the 155mm Bohdana ACS.
Currently, Ukraine has already mastered the production of Soviet-caliber ammunition, such as 122-mm and 152-mm shells. However, the Ukrainian army is gradually switching to Western caliber 155-mm artillery.
Enterprises of Ukraine and certain partner countries will jointly manufacture 155mm ammunition in quantity that will be able to mostly cover the difference between the demand and the amount of aid provided by partners. Basically, that means the deficit of Soviet calibers will be partly compensated with NATO-caliber ammunition.
