155mm Artillery Ammunition. Image – NATO
NATO allies and partners in the Land Battle Decisive Munitions framework have moved forward with efforts to increase ammunition stocks, issuing contracts for hundreds of thousands of pieces of key ammunition.
These contracts, estimated at EUR2.4 billion ($2.5 billion) – including EUR1 billion ($1.1 billion) in firm orders – will deliver a wide variety of critical munition types such as 155mm artillery, anti-tank guided missiles, and main battle tank ammunition. Initial deliveries are planned for the end of 2023.
NATO’s Land Battle Decisive Munitions framework was established in 2018 and allows allies and partners to harmonize national procurement plans while encouraging multinational purchases. Currently, 24 allies and partners participate in the program. It is an integral part of NATO’s push to increase ammunition production and aggregate demand as part of the new Defence Production Action Plan endorsed at the Vilnius Summit. The participating allies are Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, plus Austria and Sweden.
A military history enthusiast, Richard began at Forecast International as editor of the World Weapons Weekly newsletter. As the Internet grew in importance as a research tool, he helped design the company's Forecast Intelligence Center and currently coordinates the EMarket Alert newsletters for clients. Richard also manages social media efforts, including two new blogs: Defense & Security Monitor, covering defense systems and international issues, and Flight Plan, which focuses on commercial aviation and space systems. For over 30 years, Richard has authored the Defense & Aerospace Companies, Volume I (North America) and Volume II (International) services. The two books provide detailed data on major aerospace and defense contractors. He also edits the International Contractors service, a database that tracks all the contractors involved in the programs covered in the FI library. More recently he was appointed Manager, Information Services Group (ISG), a new unit that encompasses developing outbound content for both Forecast International and Military Periscope.
