Denmark picks Nammo to restart ammo production at shuttered plant

PARIS — Denmark picked Norwegian ammunition maker Nammo to restart a shuttered ammo plant for production of small- and large-caliber ammunition, the country’s defense ministry said.

Nammo can begin producing ammunition for the Danish forces and others at the shuttered plant in northern Denmark as soon as the production facilities are set up, Denmark’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Friday. Final negotiations with Nammo are still pending, including a timetable on when actual ammunition production will start.

The deteriorating security situation, the war in Ukraine and an updated threat assessment by the Danish Defense Intelligence Service “emphasize the importance of ensuring future ammunition production in Denmark,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poelsen said. “This will make a difference to the security of supply for Denmark, the Nordic region and Europe.”

However, ammunition stocks are needed now, and Denmark plans to rapidly build up its stock of mortar and artillery shells even before production can start at Elling, partly to match an assessment of Russia’s potential build-up of combat power, the ministry said.

Lund Poelsen said it’s crucial to start building up the Danish Armed Forces’ ammunition stockpiles as soon as possible, and he will decide on action in the short term “together with the parties.”

The Danish government last month agreed to allocate an additional 50 billion Danish kroner ($7 billion) to defense over the coming two years, boosting defense spending to more than 3% of GDP in 2025 and 2026.

Denmark agreed to buy the shuttered facilities at Elling in northern Jutland in October 2023, with the stated aim of exploring options for establishing domestic ammunition production. The country had sold the ammunition production activities to Expal in 2008 , and the company ceased production at the site in 2020 after several years of losses.

The ammunition plant at Elling traces its roots back to the Fyrværkerikompagniet set up in Copenhagen in 1676.

Nammo will produce 155 mm and 120 mm shells at the Elling plant, as well as 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm caliber cartridges, the ministry said. All four are NATO standard calibers.

“Nammo has what it takes to become a long-term and solid partner for Denmark, with deep industrial and technical expertise, established supply chains, and solid Norwegian-Finnish ownership to bolster lasting Nordic cooperation,” Nammo CEO Morten Brandtzæg said in a statement . “We look forward to finalizing an agreement to get production started.”

The Norwegian company says it’s working on improving ammunition interchangeability in the Nordic region, and that will improve with new production in Denmark.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 exposed European shortcomings in ammunition manufacturing, with facilities shuttered or scaled down due to lack of demand after the end of the Cold War. Ukraine has at times faced artillery shell shortages as its allies depleted stocks and struggled to ramp up production, though the European Union now expects to produce 2 million shells by the end of 2025, double the pace from a year ago.

Nammo is jointly owned by the Norwegian state and Finland’s Patria, with the latter owned for 50.1% by the Finnish state and the remainder held by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. Kongsberg in turn is 50.1% owned by the Norwegian state.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——丹麦国防部表示，丹麦已选择挪威弹药制造商Nammo重启一家已关闭的弹药厂，用于生产小口径和大口径弹药。

丹麦国防部周五发表声明称，一旦生产设施建成，Nammo公司即可在丹麦北部已关闭的工厂开始为丹麦军队和其他部队生产弹药。与Nammo公司的最终谈判仍在进行中，其中包括确定实际弹药生产的时间表。

丹麦国防部长特罗尔斯·伦德·波尔森表示，不断恶化的安全局势、乌克兰战争以及丹麦国防情报局更新的威胁评估“凸显了确保丹麦未来弹药生产的重要性”。“这将对丹麦、北欧地区乃至欧洲的供应安全产生重大影响。”

然而，丹麦国防部表示，现在需要弹药储备，丹麦计划在埃林工厂开始生产之前就迅速增加迫击炮弹和炮弹的储备，部分原因是为应对对俄罗斯潜在战斗力增长的评估。

伦德·波尔森表示，尽快开始增加丹麦武装部队的弹药储备至关重要，他将“与各方一起”决定短期内的行动。

丹麦政府上个月同意在未来两年内额外拨款 500 亿丹麦克朗（70 亿美元）用于国防，使 2025 年和 2026 年的国防开支占 GDP 的比例超过 3%。

丹麦于2023年10月同意收购位于北日德兰半岛埃林（Elling）的已关闭工厂，其公开目标是探索建立国内弹药生产的可能性。丹麦于2008年将该弹药生产业务出售给了Expal公司，该公司在连续多年亏损后于2020年停止了在该厂的生产。

埃林弹药厂的历史可以追溯到 1676 年在哥本哈根成立的 Fyrværkerikompagniet 公司。

国防部表示，纳莫公司将在埃林工厂生产155毫米和120毫米炮弹，以及5.56毫米和7.62毫米口径的弹药筒。这四种口径均为北约标准口径。

Nammo首席执行官莫滕·布兰特泽格在一份声明中表示：“Nammo具备成为丹麦长期可靠合作伙伴的条件，拥有深厚的工业和技术专长、成熟的供应链以及稳固的挪威-芬兰合资企业，这将加强北欧地区的长期合作。我们期待最终敲定协议，启动生产。”

这家挪威公司表示，他们正在努力提高北欧地区的弹药互换性，而丹麦的新生产线将改善这一状况。

2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰暴露了欧洲弹药制造方面的不足。由于冷战结束后需求下降，许多工厂被迫关闭或缩减规模。乌克兰也曾一度面临炮弹短缺，因为其盟友的库存耗尽，且难以提高产量。不过，欧盟目前预计到2025年底炮弹产量将达到200万发，是去年同期产量的两倍。

Nammo公司由挪威政府和芬兰帕特里亚公司共同拥有，其中芬兰政府持有帕特里亚公司50.1%的股份，其余股份由挪威康斯伯格防务与航空航天公司持有。而康斯伯格公司本身也由挪威政府持有50.1%的股份。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。