Wat is de Amerikaanse supply chain voor TNT, artilleriegranaten en kruit in je link voor een puinhoop.
Naast de barsten in de shells, productiestops wegens veiligheidsproblemen,...
De laatste overgebleven TNT-fabriek in Europa of Noord-Amerika is in Polen.
In a forest in western Poland, a complex on the same site where a factory was built by Nazi German occupiers to support an invasion of the Soviet Union now makes thousands of tons of TNT every year. The problem for Ukraine is that the factory, located near the city of Bydgoszcz, is the last surviving TNT plant in Europe or North America.
Workers there now work around the clock. It’s run by a state-owned company, Nitro-Chem, and makes about 10,000 tons of TNT per year. The company declined to say exactly how much. A single 155mm round typically requires about 10 kg of TNT. That means that the 10,000 tons of TNT would be enough to provide for about 1 million rounds, if every bit were used for 155mm shells.
Much of the TNT made in Poland is shipped to the U.S., according to staff at the plant. It is then packed into shells with other ingredients and added to the shrinking U.S. Army stockpile. The oldest shells are shipped back to Poland and then on to Ukraine.
De Duitsers, Britten,... sloten hun fabrieken.
Germany closed its last TNT plant, Schönebeck on the Elbe, in 1990. And in Britain, a TNT plant at Bridgewater in Somerset was closed in 2008, the last of at least four TNT factories in the country dating to World War II.
When the Somerset plant was slated for closure, a report by trade unions warned that Britain would lose “all national capability for the production of military explosives.” The report cited the dangers of relying on other suppliers, even allies. After all, the report noted, during the first Gulf War in 1991, Britain had been denied supplies of 155mm ammunition by one of its close allies, Belgium, where the UK had outsourced its shell production to save money.
Tegenwoordig komt het uit China en India. Poolse fabriek heeft geïmporteerde toeslagstoffen nodig.
Besides the plant in Poland, production of TNT is now concentrated in China and India. Customs records examined by Reuters show at least 1,200 tons of TNT were exported from India in 2023 and 2024 to arms makers that supply Western forces. India also shipped large volumes of the explosive fillers RDX and HMX to Poland’s Nitro-Chem.
But both India and China also have tried to maintain good relations with Russia. And neither likely would be able to fill NATO’s needs, even if willing. “You cannot imagine just how overheated the market is at the moment,” said a European defense industry executive. “The worst thing at the moment is the global shortage of TNT and RDX. The shortage of these raw materials is the basic reason why production cannot be ramped up much more at this point.”
One factor behind America’s TNT shortage dates back to the presidency of Ronald Reagan. No facility in the U.S. has made TNT since 1986. The Army relied on imports instead.
Plan B voor de Amerikaanse toegang tot TNT zat in Oekraïne:
As a result of all these decisions, the Army largely came to depend on the plant in Poland for its TNT supply. And the Army’s contingency plans included relying on another facility: a TNT factory in eastern Ukraine.
In 2021, the U.S. began importing TNT from that plant, in Rubizhne in Luhansk province, as part of a long-term $188 million deal. A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. imported about 500 tons of TNT before the war started. In 2022, however, the facility was quickly captured by the Russians. Ukrainian forces destroyed it before retreating.
The U.S. has announced plans to build its own $650 million TNT factory. It will take at least two years to complete.
Het wordt eindelijk tijd om terug een eigen fabriek te hebben.
Kruitfabrieken gingen ook dicht.
As with the TNT plants, Western countries have spent the years since the end of the Cold War closing powder plants. The last in the United Kingdom were shuttered in 1998, and plants closed in Romania in 2004 and in Bergerac, France, in 2007, all due to insufficient orders. Germany’s Rheinmetall has retained powder production in Aschau, Bavaria and in Wimmis, Switzerland, but those plants are unable to meet current demands.
In de VS valt een oude fabriek regelmatig stil.
The U.S. Army’s sole nitrocellulose plant is located in rural Virginia. It opened in 1941 and though it is still operating, recent Army budget documents say the plant has “exceeded its useful life” and breakdowns are routine. A recent equipment failure there caused one production line to close for six weeks, said a person familiar with the matter. “The place is very fragile,” he said of the plant.
In 2012, the Army signed a deal to replace it with a modern plant that would be far more efficient, safe, and environmentally sound. The new facility would also reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. It was to open around 2015 and cost about $245 million.
The nitrocellulose project, however, is a decade behind schedule, and costs have soared to $399 million. Internal Army records and federal court records blame delays and cost overruns on contractor and subcontractor incompetence. Subcontractor Fluor Federal Solutions paid $14.5 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges related to the project. Fluor and contractor BAE Systems OSI have declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation over the matter.
The Army said the new nitrocellulose factory is “in the final stages of commissioning and qualification.” But it is not yet producing large quantities of nitrocellulose for military use. The “prove out” process – getting the chemical mix just right – could take years, people briefed on the matter said. The Army said it hopes to have the process honed by December. It said the delay has had “no impact” on the Ukrainian war effort because the legacy plant still functions.
Een nieuwe fabriek had in 2015 in productie moeten gaan en nu is het tegen december in orde krijgen?
De eerste Rheinmetall fabriek in Oekraïne is actief en gaat tegen het einde van het jaar Lynx IFV's produceren.
According to Papperger, the initial factory—focused on manufacturing and servicing military equipment—is now active, with plans to roll out the first advanced Lynx infantry fighting vehicles by the end of the year.
https://united24media.com...e-whats-known-so-far-3303
Tweede fabriek is bijna klaar om kruit te produceren.
Beyond this first plant, Rheinmetall is moving forward with plans to build additional facilities. The second factory, nearing completion, will focus on gunpowder production, while the third will produce ammunition to meet NATO standards, replacing older Soviet manufacturing capabilities. Finally, a fourth plant will concentrate on air defense systems, enhancing Ukraine’s defensive infrastructure.
Daarna nog een fabriek voor tank- en artilleriemunitie. En uiteindelijk nog een fabriek voor luchtafweer.
TNT-fabrieken in
Finland,
Litouwen,... gepland.
Hoe langer de oorlog duurt, hoe beter dat de supply chain en productie in het Westen wordt. Oekraïne steunen is een goede oefening om de achterstand in te halen en problemen weg te werken.
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Ook kan ik alleen maar concluderen dat de Oranje's er zitten wegens hun consequente incompetentie. Want die Belgen hadden natuurlijk zeker een punt... Maargoed, oude koeien.
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