Stacy Cummings, the general manager of NATO's Support and Procurement Agency, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sign an agreement Jan. 23, 2024, in Brussels for the purchase of 155 mm artillery ammunition. (NATO)
NATO signed a $1.2 billion contract Tuesday for about 220,000 artillery rounds, a move that comes as allies work to replenish stockpiles depleted by Western military support for Ukraine.
The deal, organized with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, involves 155 mm rounds that can be used by a wide range of weapons systems.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine has become a battle for ammunition,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a news conference at his Brussels headquarters. “So it is important allies refill their own stocks as we continue to support Ukraine.”
Stacy Cummings, general manager of the procurement agency, said the contract will deliver the rounds within about 30 months.
Artillery ammunition in storage at Blue Grass Army Depot in Lexington, Ky., on Sept. 8, 2022. NATO leaders have agreed to a $1.2 billion contract for hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds to replenish alliance stockpiles. (Dori Whipple/U.S. Army)
The war has tested the limits of Western militaries, which have been pouring arms and ammunition into Ukraine to help it fight off Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion nearly two years ago.
Military officials inside NATO, including Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, have warned that allies are looking at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to ammunition.
In recent months, the alliance has taken steps to ramp up production. Since July, NATO has done about $10 billion in contracts involving everything from howitzers and guided missiles to Patriot interceptors.
Also on Tuesday, Stoltenberg was slated to lead a meeting of NATO’s North Atlantic Council, the organization’s highest decision-making body. The focus will be on how to further boost industrial production, he said.
