France to open plant for production of 155mm shells in Belgium.

France plans to open a new plant for the production of 155mm artillery shells in Belgium.

The plant will be opened next week by KNDS Mecar in Belgium, a subsidiary of the French company Ouest-France. In the long run, this will provide a significant increase in the production of artillery shells, which are now so much needed by both Ukraine and European militaries.

The Petit-Roeulx-les-Nivelles plant will specialize in producing the artillery shells, which will be filled with explosives at other enterprises in Belgium and France.

Despite the opening, the plant’s full operation will begin no earlier than 2025, but the increase in production rates will be noted earlier.

In addition to expanding the production of 155-mm shell casings, France is also expanding the production of special modular artillery charges used to fire artillery shells. The French gunpowder and explosives manufacturer Eurenco will increase production of modular powder charges for artillery to 500.000 units per year. The company will launch production and produce up to 1,200 tons of artillery powder per year at its facilities in Bergerac, in which it has invested over €500 million.

The new Eurenco gunpowder production line, which was laid in mid-April 2024, should to meet the growing needs of the EU and Ukraine. The new production line of the plant should begin work in early 2025. Currently, the bottleneck in the production of artillery ammunition for Europe is the supply of gunpowder.

In parallel with this investment, EURENCO is also increasing its production capacity at its other sites in Europe, said the company in a press release.