British defense company to produce howitzers for Ukraine
A 25 million pound artillery plant will be opened in Sheffield by the British company BAE Systems to support Ukrainian forces in the fight against Russia.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.
The company said that the plant will begin production of M777 howitzers next year, which will create 50 jobs.
This effectively cancels the company's decision to curtail artillery production in the UK, as the war in Ukraine requires weapons.
As noted, many of the howitzers that the United States, Canada, and Australia have provided to Ukraine need to be modernized or repaired. As a result, BAE received multimillion-dollar contracts for the production of spare parts and repairs. In January of this year, the Pentagon allocated $50 million (£40 million) to the company to resume production of titanium chassis for this artillery.
John Borton, managing director of BAE's British weapons systems division, describing the heavy use of weapons in Ukraine, said: "Everything has a technical lifespan, and because of the intensity of use we're seeing, we're approaching a limit we've never seen before."
The company has also signed deals with the government to replenish ammunition stocks in the UK, including 155mm rounds used in M777 howitzers. BAE previously stated that eight unnamed countries have expressed interest in placing new orders for the M777 following the announcement of the resumption of production.
In early October, it was reported that Norway would allocate up to 967 million kroner (about $89.9 million) for four new projects aimed at increasing capacity, including the production of rocket engines and components for creating explosives.
In mid-June, Ukraine and Denmark signed a memorandum on Denmark's purchase of weapons and equipment from Ukrainian manufacturers.
Earlier it was reported that more than 10 European defense companies have joint production or representative offices in Ukraine
