Artillery shell costs skyrocket amid escalating Ukraine conflict

Artillery shells have become a key weapon in the war in Ukraine. Putin's invasion has shifted the defense industry onto a different track and drastically driven up their prices. Today, one shell can cost as much as an older car, calculates the Slovak daily Aktuality.

The Russian war machine has imposed an intense production pace for weapons, particularly crucial shells, on the front in Ukraine. The war has drastically increased their production cost, writes the Slovak daily "Aktuality."

In March, the EU launched a program to increase ammunition production capacity to 2 million shells annually by the end of 2025. It allocated 500 million euros for this purpose. However, according to estimates by the Slovak Daily, to effectively support Ukraine and its Western allies and break the invaders' offensive, they will need to spend an additional 800 billion euros.

The prices of all types of ammunition have increased. One shell can cost as much as an older car, emphasizing "Aktuality." An 82 mm mortar shell has increased from 70 euros to 450 euros. The price of a 152 mm artillery shell, also used by Russian armed forces, has risen from 1,200 to 5,700 euros, and 122 mm tank ammunition from 5,991 to 7,400 euros. According to the daily, missiles for the Grad launcher have increased from 900 to 6,000 euros.

Calculations by Bain & Company indicate that the cost of producing artillery shells incurred by the West is four times higher than in Russia.

Ukraine's minimum requirement is one million shells of 155 mm caliber annually and another million of other calibers: 105 mm or Russian 122 mm and 152 mm, estimates Jacek Tarociński, an analyst with the security and defense team at the Centre for Eastern Studies.

The West helped meet these minimum needs for two years of the war. If Ukraine is to take the initiative, launch an offensive, and reclaim territory, it must build reserves, and these needs will double or even triple.