After the Russia-Ukraine war and increasing military tension around the world, now America, Britain and European countries have started preparing to produce ammunition and explosives on a large scale. The aim of these countries is to reduce dependence on other countries and to prepare sufficient arms and ammunition in case of war. According to the report of Wall Street Journal, at least 24 new projects are currently going on in NATO countries, in which factories for making propellant (shell-firing chemical) and explosives are being built.
There is currently only one propellant factory in America. This factory was built in Virginia during the Second World War. No new propellant factories were built in America after the 1970s. Now three new factories are being set up in the US state of Arkansas. These include Regulus Global, D&M Holding and South Korea’s Hanwha Defense. Regulus Company will start manufacturing triple-base propellant in America for the first time since 1986. Whereas India’s Kalyan Strategic Systems produces 60 thousand ammunitions every day. The company has decided to increase production.
3 new TNT factories will be built in Europe
Europe is also rapidly increasing its capacity. Three new TNT factories are being built here. TNT production is about to start again in America after several decades. Britain has planned to build at least six new explosives factories by 2030. After the end of the Cold War, America and Europe reduced defense spending. Due to this, many ammunition and explosives manufacturing factories were closed and production shifted to other countries including Asia.
In 1978, America had 32 government ammunition plants, but now only 11 remain. Earlier there were 7 TNT factories in Europe, now only one is left. America is still completely dependent on imports for TNT and a large part of it comes from Poland. This weakness was clearly visible during the Russia-Ukraine war. Polish company Nitro-Chem told American customers that it could not guarantee regular supplies because of the war. After this, the price of TNT increased almost four times from 2024. At the same time, the plan to increase the production of modern explosives like RDX and IMX in America is also lagging behind by about eight years. Now it is expected to be completed by 2030.
India supplies explosives to western countries
India is also increasing its preparations. According to Nilesh Tungar, CEO of Kalyani Strategic Systems, the company makes 60 thousand cannon balls every month and now there is a plan to increase the production of chemicals used in them. India supplies explosive materials to western countries, but is not yet completely self-sufficient in some essential chemicals like TNT. Tungar says that earlier military preparations were made keeping in mind a 40-day war, but the Ukraine war showed that modern wars can last for a long time. For this reason, many countries including America, Europe and India are now busy increasing their production of ammunition and gunpowder.
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