Germany backs Czech plan to boost Ukraine's ammo supply amid EU strains
Due to difficulties in approving a new aid package for Ukraine from the United States, the responsibility of providing adequate supplies rests on European countries. Unfortunately, many of them have problems with timely delivery, upon which the fate of Ukraine depends.
For this purpose, Czechia proposed purchasing as many as 880,000 artillery shells from outside the EU, which could be dispatched to the front in just a few weeks after financing. The origin of this ammunition is unknown, but Greece's very clear opposition in the European forum may indicate manufacturers from Turkey. Other potential sources include the Republic of South Africa and South Korea, as these are countries that have so far tried to maintain neutrality.
Such an injection of ammunition will enable Ukraine to conduct defensive actions more effectively and provide time for the European arms industry to complete the process of increasing ammunition production potential. So far, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Canada have joined the Czech initiative, and now Germany has decided to do so.
Here is what the Czechs found for Ukraine — a mix of Western and Eastern ammunition
The sources found by the Czechs include 500,000 155mm calibre shells and 300,000 122mm calibre shells. Considering the volume and the estimated cost of 1.5 billion euros, it means these are the simplest artillery shells with a base bleed, consisting solely of a cast steel body filled with several pounds of TNT and a fuse.
For the 155mm caliber shells used by NATO, they likely contain 9-10 kilograms of TNT. These allow for engaging targets up to about 24 kilometres for 39 calibre length gun systems, such as the TRF1 howitzers, or about 31 kilometres for 52 calibre length gun systems, such as the Polish Krab.
Because of the price, these are also not precision-guided munitions, as their accuracy at maximum range allows for hitting an area the size of a football pitch. Alternatively, they could be slightly more expensive rockets with a gas generator, increasing the range by about 30%. Meanwhile, Soviet-era 122mm calibre shells containing about 2.5 kilograms of explosive have a maximum range of about 14 kilometres.
