Britain weighs how to rebuild stockpiles drained by war in Ukraine

LONDON — Britain’s Ministry of Defence is next week expected to lay out what the military will look like in the future in a new review aimed at reshaping the armed forces.

On the long list of things to be addressed in the report, known as a command paper, is a plan to tackle weapon stockpile shortages, according to James Heappey, minister of the armed forces.

“Stockpiles are to get you through the first phase of a war. Nobody has made any secret of the fact the stockpiles we hold are insufficient. Maybe there is an announcement about stockpiles in in the [Command] paper next week,” Heappey told the audience at the Global Air & Space Chiefs conference in London on July 13.

Low weapons stockpiles held by the British military have been exposed by London’s support of Ukraine with substantial supplies of missiles, ammunition and other weapons since the war started last year.

The U.K. sent 100,000 unspecified artillery rounds to Ukraine in 2022, plus more than 300,000 so far this year.

The bulk of those were 155mm rounds, but it is likely 105mm artillery shells have also been supplied.

The stock level issue has generated questions here not just about the levels of spending to replenish war stocks, but also about how to sustain defense industrial capacity to meet the demands of the military.

“Stockpiles are only half the equation,” Heappey said. “You have got to have either the defense industrial base or the wider civilian industrial capacity that can be repurposed because stockpiles are supposed to last you until such time as your production equals your consumption in war.”

How you meet requirements is a question not just for the MoD but the wider government, he added.

“When you are in a post-industrial, largely service economy, it’s quite challenging. It doesn’t mean you necessarily have to regrow home industry, but you need to rethink very carefully,” he told an audience of senior air force officers and industry executives.

The MoD and industry have already started down that track.

On July 11, munitions maker BAE Systems announced it had sealed an agreement with the MoD to start rebuilding British Army stocks with the supply of artillery shells and other munitions in a deal which could eventually be worth £400 million.

BAE Systems said the deal will significantly increase production of 155mm, 30mm medium caliber rounds and 5.56mm small arms ammunition at facilities in the north of England and south Wales.

The industrial expansion includes a new machining line for 155 mm shells, a new explosives filling factory and the restarting of a 30mm manufacturing capability.

Thales UK is already benefiting from a stock rebuild deal signed last December with its Belfast, Northern Ireland factory, replacing British Army NLAW anti-tank missiles handed over to the Ukrainian military.

But the British are not just considering how they can retain sovereign capabilities in the sector.

Heappey indicated the British are looking at partnerships with other nations to maintain production capabilities.

“Who are your friends? How defensible are the sea lanes and air lanes to bring that stuff from the point of manufacture to the U.K.?” he asked.

Heappy said it’s “inescapably necessary to look at the size of your stockpiles, and also look at how you can scale industry quickly to meet the challenge of a national war.”

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

伦敦——英国国防部预计将于下周发布一份新的评估报告，旨在重塑武装部队，并阐述未来军队的形态。

据武装部队部长詹姆斯·希皮称，这份被称为指挥文件的报告需要解决的众多问题中，包括一项解决武器库存短缺问题的计划。

“储备物资是为了帮助我们度过战争的第一阶段。我们现有的储备物资不足，这一点已是公开的秘密。或许下周的[指挥部]文件中会有关于储备物资的公告，”希皮7月13日在伦敦举行的全球航空航天首脑会议上对与会者说道。

自去年战争爆发以来，伦敦向乌克兰提供了大量导弹、弹药和其他武器，这暴露了英国军方武器库存不足的问题。

2022年，英国向乌克兰运送了10万发未指明用途的炮弹，今年迄今为止已运送超过30万发。

其中大部分是 155 毫米炮弹，但很可能也提供了 105 毫米炮弹。

库存水平问题不仅引发了关于补充战争库存的支出水平的问题，还引发了关于如何维持国防工业产能以满足军队需求的问题。

“储备只是问题的一半，”希皮说。“你必须拥有国防工业基础，或者更广泛的民用工业产能，这些产能可以重新用于军事用途，因为储备的目的是为了维持到你的生产能够与战争消耗量持平为止。”

他补充说，如何满足这些要求不仅是国防部的问题，也是整个政府的问题。

“在后工业时代，尤其是在以服务业为主的经济体中，情况就相当具有挑战性。这并不意味着你必须重振本土工业，但你需要非常仔细地重新思考，”他对一群空军高级军官和行业高管说道。

国防部和业界已经开始朝着这个方向努力了。

7 月 11 日，军火制造商 BAE 系统公司宣布已与英国国防部达成协议，开始重建英国陆军的库存，供应炮弹和其他弹药，该交易最终价值可能达到 4 亿英镑。

BAE系统公司表示，该协议将大幅提高其位于英格兰北部和威尔士南部工厂的155毫米、30毫米中口径炮弹和5.56毫米小口径武器弹药的产量。

工业扩建项目包括一条新的 155 毫米炮弹加工生产线、一家新的炸药装填厂以及重启 30 毫米炮弹的生产能力。

泰雷兹英国公司已经从去年 12 月与其位于北爱尔兰贝尔法斯特的工厂签署的库存重建协议中受益，该协议替换了移交给乌克兰军队的英国陆军 NLAW 反坦克导弹。

但英国人考虑的不仅仅是如何保持在该领域的自主能力。

希皮表示，英国正在寻求与其他国家建立伙伴关系，以维持生产能力。

他问道：“你的朋友是谁？将这些东西从生产地运到英国的海路和空路有多容易防守？”

希皮表示，“不可避免地，我们必须审视一下自己的储备规模，还要考虑如何迅速扩大工业规模，以应对国家战争的挑战。”

Andrew Chuter 是《防务新闻》的英国记者。