The United States Army on Friday announced the award of a nearly $1 billion contract to increase production of 155 mm artillery rounds that are being used in large quantities by Ukraine.
The aim is to produce between 12,000 and 20,000 additional rounds per month, it added.
The announcement comes after the Army awarded $522 million in orders for the same rounds to two other companies in a deal funded by the Pentagon’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
Ukraine and Russia have fired huge amounts of artillery munitions at each other since the Russian invasion began almost a year ago.
In November, a US official said Russian forces were firing about 20,000 artillery rounds a day.
Ukraine’s rate was between 4,000 and 7,000 rounds per day — faster than allied Western manufacturers can produce to keep pace.
The rates have plunged since then, as the winter set in and both sides face shortages and conserve ammunition.
AFP
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