WARSAW (Reuters) -British company BAE Systems will help Poland produce 155 mm rounds, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday, referring to heavy artillery shells that have been in short
BAE Systems Partners with Poland to Enhance Artillery Shell Production
Poland's Defense Strategy and Artillery Production
WARSAW (Reuters) -British company BAE Systems will help Poland produce 155 mm rounds, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday, referring to heavy artillery shells that have been in short supply among Ukraine and its NATO partners.
Poland is leading a European push to boost its defence readiness to deter any possible attack from Russia and is spending 2.4 billion zlotys ($660.39 million) for a project to build three ammunition factories.
"Thanks to this cooperation (with BAE Systems), we will have state-of-the-art technology, thanks to which we will be able to dramatically increase the production of 155 mm rounds," Tusk told journalists in the Dezamet factory in Nowa Deba, southern Poland.
Collaboration with BAE Systems
"This cooperation is only part of a larger project... we should achieve an annual production level of approximately 130,000 rounds in Poland within two years."
NATO's Role in Eastern Defense
Western nations have been scrambling to boost the output of crucial ammunition like artillery shells as Ukraine, at times firing thousands of rounds a day in its war against Russia's invasion, has been burning through supplies much faster than allies can produce them.
The 155mm shell and its Russian equivalent are considered vital in the conflict because they combine the explosive power and extended range needed to destroy armour and inflict casualties.
Impact of Drone Incursion
Tusk also said he would talk to NATO's secretary general on Friday to discuss further steps by the alliance to protect its eastern flank after a Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace this week.
NATO said its Secretary General Mark Rutte and Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich would give a joint press conference at NATO headquarters at 1500 GMT.
The drone incursion will also be discussed at the United Nations Security Council at 1900 GMT.
($1 = 3.6342 zlotys)
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Marek Strzelecki and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by William Maclean)
