2024-02-12 19:01:43
The leaders of Germany and Denmark today participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new munitions plant, underscoring Europe’s efforts to increase arms production amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported, citing BTA.
The plant, which is being built by German arms company Rheinmetall at its existing site in the northern German town of Unterlues, is expected to produce about 200,000 artillery shells a year, as well as explosives and possibly other components, including warheads. The German arms company is covering construction costs of around 300 million euros ($324 million).
Rheinmetall announced that production at the plant will primarily meet the needs of the German military. The company said the priority will be to start production as soon as possible, and construction is expected to take about a year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who attended the ceremony together with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, said that Rheinmetall thus “lays the foundations for an independent and above all long-term supply of the Bundeswehr and our partners in Europe with artillery ammunition”.
Scholz noted that this is particularly important in view of Ukraine’s ammunition needs, adds DPA.