Why the 155mm Shell Is One of the World’s Most Wanted Objects Now | WSJ Equipped

– [Narrator] This is a 155
millimeter artillery shell, one of the key ammunitions
used in Ukraine. – Military officials
estimate that Ukraine needs 200,000 a month to
actually fight this war, to keep on power of Russia and US capacity at somewhere around 28,000, therefore, there is a large deficit. – [Narrator] Then, the
war in Gaza broke out, with the Israeli army using the same type of artillery shell. And now Kyiv has said that deliveries of the vital ammunition have gone down since that conflict started. Here's how the 155
millimeter round became one of the most sought after
artillery calibers in the world, and how the US and its allies
are ramping up production. The 155 millimeter
artillery shell was adopted as a NATO standard caliber
after the Second World War. Military experts with defense
intelligence firm, Janes, say the shell became popular
because it balances range, warhead size and damage on the targets. The 155 millimeter round is mainly used in Western Howitzer systems. Essentially, it looks
like a very large bullet made up of a steel casing,
fuse and explosive fill.

A standard round is about two feet long, weighs about 100 pounds,
and it's 155 millimeters, or six inches in diameter. – 155 is basically a measurement, and it measures the back of the shell. So, other than that, you can
do pretty much what you want as long as it has that caliber
and therefore fits into a barrel that can fire that. – [Narrator] The 155 millimeter
shell can be configured in many ways. They can be packed with
highly explosive material, produce high fragmentation, or
use precision guided systems. – Within that, you have
something like this, which is an Excalibur
shell, and that runs on GPS. But if you look at these
fins here that come out, actually guide it in its flight.

– [Narrator] Major producers
have also been experimenting with the shell's range. – [Alistair] And this is
something called a Ramjet shell, and it works by using oxygen
that comes in through the front and then oxidizes the fuel, and therefore it needs less
fuel so it can go further. – [Narrator] Norwegian
weapons manufacturer NAMMO, which is developing the
Ramjet shell in partnership with Boeing, says the new
ammunition will be able to travel up to 90 miles. That's six times further
than what the standard shell can cover, which is about 15 miles. In Ukraine, the 155 millimeter
shell quickly became one of the most requested
munitions after allies started to send their artillery systems to Kyiv.

Since 2022, Kyiv has received more than 300 Western Howitzers,
and the US has provided over 2 million rounds of ammunition. – Artillery's hugely
important in the Ukraine war, and you know, Russia brought to bear its very large artillery assets, and Ukraine obviously followed suit. The other thing, it's a very, very long and at the moment quite static frontline, so artillery is good for that. And then people realize that
most companies don't have vast stockpiles of missiles
for a variety of reasons, one of which they're complex
and more expensive to make.

– [Narrator] Since the
war in Ukraine broke out, the price for standard 155
millimeter shells has gone up from about 2,100 dollars
to 8,400 dollars a piece according to NATO officials. This is still much cheaper than missiles, which can cost millions of dollars, like the Storm Shadow
missiles used in Ukraine. NATO estimates that Russia fires up to 30,000 artillery rounds per day, five times more than what
Ukraine can respond with. Some military experts say
Western arsenals were not ready for an artillery battle of that intensity. – Stockpiles weren't particularly high, and the West realized
that it didn't really have the capacity to fill
the gaps very quickly, so it became very, very
problematic very soon. – [Narrator] The US,
Europe, and South Korea are the main manufacturers
of the 155 millimeter shell.

Before Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, the US Army, which owns ammunition production
facilities in the States, produced about 14,000 shells a month. But since 2022, Washington
has been pumping billions of dollars into retooled
factories to produce more rockets, missiles, shells, and rocket motors. It has issued almost 25
billion dollars in contracts to arm Ukraine and replenish US stocks. In a year and a half, the production of the 155
millimeter shell doubled. By 2025, Washington plans to produce up to 80,000 shells a month,
according to army officials. On the other hand, the EU where factories producing ammunition are privately owned, has struggled to provide
Ukraine with more shells. – The US Army can say, you
know, we want more shells, and obviously that has to prioritize. European manufacturers have
said, despite this huge demand, they're not getting actual orders saying, we want this amount of shells
for this amount of time, and then they're not getting those orders looking into the future that
would give them the confidence to expand capacity. – [Narrator] Israel's war
on Hamas militants created new challenges to the
global supply of ammunition. By December, the US sent
roughly 57,000 rounds of the 155 millimeter
artillery shell to Israel.

Defense Secretary, Lloyd
Austin, has said the US was able to support
both Ukraine and Israel. Military experts also note
that the Israeli operations in Gaza don't rely on artillery
as heavily as Ukraine, suggesting that the
effects of the war in Gaza on the global demand for
the 155 millimeter shell could be limited. – Israel uses a lot more munitions that Ukraine doesn't really have, so it just uses a lot more missiles and it uses its Air Force
more than Ukraine can. – [Narrator] In order to
combat ammunition shortages, the Ukrainian Minister for
Strategic Industries announced in December, that Kyiv agreed
with two American firms to jointly manufacture 155
millimeter shells in Ukraine. However, production won't
start for at least two years. – [Alistair] I mean,
the problem is not just supplying Ukraine, but
it's building up your own stockpiles as well, which obviously western
countries need to do. So, they've all promised
massive increases, but as the European Union has
shown, that's more difficult to achieve than one would imagine.

As found on YouTube

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