US to increase production of artillery shells by several times to help Ukraine

This was reported by The New York Times citing its sources.

According to the publication, the production of 155m shells, so badly needed by Kiev, will increase to 90,000 per month in two years.

The scale of shell production will be increased by expanding factories and bringing in new manufacturers. It will be the biggest modernisation of the US defence industrial base in almost 40 years.

Artillery shells have been the cornerstone of the 11-month war, with both Ukrainian and Russian forces firing thousands of howitzer rounds at each other along the front lines every day. These weapons are likely to be responsible for the largest percentage of military casualties, estimated by US officials at more than 100,000 on each side.

The Ministry of Defence will fund new artillery ammunition production facilities and will spend about $1 billion a year over the next 15 years to modernise state-owned ammunition production facilities to increase automation, improve worker safety and ultimately speed up ammunition production.