NATO signs US$1.2 billion contract for 155mm artillery ammunition

NATO signed a €1.1 billion (US$1.2 billion) contract for hundreds of thousands of 155mm artillery rounds on Tuesday (Jan 23)

NATO signed a €1.1 billion (US$1.2 billion) contract for hundreds of thousands of 155mm artillery rounds on Tuesday (Jan 23), some of which will be supplied to Ukraine after Kyiv complained of ammunition shortages.

"The war in Ukraine has become a battle of ammunition," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after a signing ceremony at the Western military alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said last week a shortage of ammunition, which he described as "shell hunger", was a big problem for Kyiv's troops nearly two years after Russia's full-scale invasion.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) struck the deal on behalf of several allies who will either pass on the shells to Ukraine or use them to stock up their own depleted inventories.

A NATO official identified the buyers as Belgium, Lithuania and Spain, which pooled together to benefit from the lower prices ensured by buying in bulk.

The contract is likely to yield about 220,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, with the first deliveries expected at the end of 2025, the official told Reuters.

The shells will be supplied by French arms maker Nexter and Germany's Junghans, according to an industry source.