The Russia War in Ukraine has drained Western ammunition actions. Despite years of weapons of arms claimed, the manufacture of NATO weapons still does not fill these stocks, not to mention the necessary mass in the necessary mass.
The West came to recognize that these shortages are due to the relocation of the production of explosives. But a wave of new investments incitement Since NATO Members of the defense industries do not give results compared to Russia alarming success To be armed, even assaulted with sanctions.
Western weapon manufacturers rush to buy or develop the factory space to fill, in particular, Chinese explosive chemical imports. But one is to choose to reconsider the standard chemistry of modern cannon powder.
“The entire industry is going through this disruption period,” said Steve Cardew, director of commercial development and the BAE systems strategy, in an interview with the Kyiv Independent. “This then provides the catalyst to really look at new technologies.”
Bae Systems is the largest ammunition manufacturer in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. Its American affiliate is probably the largest supplier of “energetic”, the raw materials for explosives and propellants, which remains geographically within NATO.
Like all its competitors, BAE accelerates to meet the demand that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has created for arms in Ukraine and elsewhere. Its British branch is however unique in a bank on a new chemical process which is completely moving from a key importation – and may well be the model for Ukraine to make more explosives.
Wartime reshoring
NATO repeats its supply chain to compete with Russia and China. BAE in particular tries to make energy in the United Kingdom itself, where the last plant of this type – for TNT – closed its doors in 2008.
“Historically, ammunition was a cyclic company,” said Cardew. “The conflict occurs, we strengthen the capacity – this capacity takes time to strengthen, it is very expensive to support – and then we go through relative periods of peace and stability, and questions are asked in terms of: Why do we need such great real estate?”
Western soldiers have largely downgraded heavy artillery after the end of the Cold War. The general production of ammunition has decreased while the war against terrorism calmed down, in particular after the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan.
Western weapons manufacturers like BAE have artillery factories to start since Russia has invaded Ukraine, which has kicked off what Cardew called “the need for continuous supply to ensure that Russian advances in Ukraine does not worsen”.
But the overhaul of the production of ammunition, in particular, of high caliber, quickly exposed flagrant surveillance at the top of the supply chain. Most modern propellers lead ammunition ranging from 9 to 155 millimeters are based on nitrocellulose, most of which the West bought in China. Nitrocellulose itself derives from Linter cotton, the main producer of which is also China.
“The cheapest way to do so was to count on supply chains that were not in the United Kingdom,” said Cardew. “The fundamental bit is the thing that feeds nitrocellulose, cotton linking – it is a really rare material, there are only a few places from which you can buy it.”
The American affiliate of BAE Systems manages the Radford ammunition plant in Virginia on behalf of the US military, owner of the factory.
“Our approach is to reduce this, to duplicate, so that you have many nodes operating continuously – it means that everyone is easier and cheaper to build and needs less space around it.”
The largest producer of military quality nitrocellulose left within geographic NATO, Radford is itself an example of the poor quality state of the alliance supply chain, welcoming constant chemical spills and lossesaccidental explosionsand delayed launching.
But explosions are the nature of the company of nitrocellulose. As a lot of heavy manufacturing, China has taken it because it has more loose environmental controls and a lower risk of public indignation when factories explode, in addition to cheaper labor costs.
Today, arms companies are redemption existing nitrocellulose The factories from all over Europe, abandoned or used for non -military purposes such as painting and lacquer which require lower purity than ammunition. This is faster than building new Novo factories in part because European countries are hesitant to fire them when their environmental impact puts decades to clean.
Alternative energetics
The other major installation of BAE systems in the United States is the Holston ammunition plant in Tennessee, which is one of the last NATO producers of another major explosive, RDX, also known as Hexogen. A central ingredient in plastic explosives like C4, RDX is generally associated with other chemicals to slow down its explosive power, especially if it will propel ammunition.
For decades, weapons chemists have floated various methods to transform RDX into a type propellant that can send a 155 mm flight. China selling inexpensive nitrocellulose, Western producers have not explored these industrially compounds. But RDX in particular has a long history to fill the gaps.
The British army was the first nation to determine how to stabilize hexogen in usable explosives, which was useful at the start of the Second World War. Between the Nazi takeover of Poland and France in 1939 and the entrance to the USSR and the United States in 1941, the United Kingdom was actually alone in the fight against Germany. Crossed with attacks by submarines against the expedition, the United Kingdom depended on the Home RDX, which is periodically called Royal Explosive Demolition.
Once the United States has joined the war effort, it has created a mass RDX production at the installation of Holston, which, by an accountproduced about 340 tonnes of explosives per day at its peak.
Cardew noted that the BAE bet is not to build another British Holston. The new plan is a smaller “knots” diagram which is easier to bring and offline and more resilient in the face of accidents, or even the attack of a foreign power.
“The factories that generate explosives are large companies – hundreds, thousands of acres,” said Cardew, managing bulk explosives expeditions.
“Our approach is to reduce this, to duplicate, so that you have many nodes operating continuously – it means that everyone is easier and cheaper to build and needs less space around it.”
More specifically, the new plan includes shipping containers rehabilitated to manufacture RDX in unknown locations through the British card noted the need for a “distributed network” for resilient production.
“A large explosive installation in the United Kingdom or indeed anywhere is a risk for various reasons. If you have 10 and they are geographically dispersed, this is a much better position to be,” said Cardew.
These are probably lessons for Ukraine, whose weapons manufacturers are beset by Russian air attacks against large manufacturing facilities. Asked about the application of new BAE methods in Ukraine, Cardew said: “Obviously, there will be conversations at some point, probably what the United Kingdom wishes to do and how it wishes to share this technology.”
Hexogeneration
Bae seeks to go even further in the supply chain to make more basic chemicals necessary to make RDX.
RDX is also known as hexogen, and mainly derives from hexamine, which in turn comes from a fairly simple combination of ammonia and formaldehyde-two chemicals which are themselves by-products of universal organic processes such as excretion and decomposition.
Indeed, there is a lot of overlap among the families of fertilizers and explosives. It was 2,750 tonnes of fertilizer ammonium nitrate that blow The port of Beirut in 2020.
Hexamine is itself a less powerful flammable, historically used for things like fuel tablets for cooking included in military field kits. Mixed with nitric acid, hexamine turns into a more explosive hexogen.
The BAE plans to further synthesize chemical precursors, in particular hexamine. “We are not doing this today, but we look at how we would,” said Cardew. “I can’t say too much about it, but it’s a next step for us.”
A persistent question in Ukraine is whether Western producers will continue their respective resets. In the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine, would BAE and its competitors return to their business plans before 2022?
“Defense, ammunition – it’s an insurance policy, right?” Said card. “How much you pay for your personal insurance depends on your situation, on your vision of the context in which you operate – so that it can be played, but I don’t think we will see this happening in the next five years.”
Author’s note:
Hi, here is Kollen, the author of this article. Thank you for reading. NATO is rejoicing in The Hague this week, which makes it a good time to remember the delivery of unequal weapons to Ukraine during the three years and three months since the invasion of Russia. The ability of the alliance to take unified measures is in doubt, as is its ability to produce what Ukraine needs to defend itself. If you want more stories like this, consider join our community Today to help support our work.
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