Another five nations – Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Hungary and Poland – have joined the European Defence Agency’s (EDA’s) Collaborative Procurement of Ammunition (CPA) initiative, the agency has announced.
At their meeting on 20 March 2023, the defence ministers of 17 EDA states and Norway agreed on the CPA project, under which Ukraine is to be supplied with ammunition as quickly and sustainably as possible in a three-stage process. To this end the nations are to hand over ammunition worth EUR 1 Bn from their own stocks and from current procurements to Ukraine. For another billion euros the countries are to jointly procure ammunition for delivery to Ukraine.
The third pillar of the programme is to create a long-term perspective for industry to build a sustainable supply chain for ammunition.
In a fast-track process the EDA says it will procure 155 mm artillery ammunition over two years. For other types of ammunition a seven-year project is to be launched, with national orders bundled together and awarded jointly with industry via the EDA. This is intended to accelerate procurement and make it more cost-effective through economies of scale.
Financing will come from the European Peace Facility.
Gerhard Heiming
