Ammunition Pilot Case
Ammunition is a key sector which highly affects operational capabilities of the European armed forces. Currently, the technological level of the European Ammunition industry is very high and in some areas world leading.
However, this sector is not homogeneous, resulting in the existence of considerable differences between small, medium and large calibres. Industry is mainly fragmented and companies co-operate on certain sectors while competing in others. At the same time, existing or emerging “players”, other than in Europe, create a highly competitive environment for the European Ammunition industry.
All this in 2008 led the EDA participating Member States (pMS) to select the Ammunition sector as a pilot test case in the framework of the European Defence and Technological Industrial Base (EDTIB) Strategy, approved in May 2007. The Strategy aims at developing a truly European defence industry, able to meet the operational requirements of the armed forces of the future, technologically advanced and competitive within and outside Europe.
To accomplish these targets, EDA is working together with Member States and industry to identify “Key Industrial Capabilities”, so as to define which capabilities need to be kept or developed in Europe. Due to its characteristics (importance, fragmentation, high competition), the Ammunition sector is an ideal test case.
Aim
The final scope of the Ammunition project is to to contribute to the implementation of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by:
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Addressing the Ammunition sector from the perspective of both the demand and the supply side
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Identifying Ammunition key industrial capabilities to be preserved or developed in Europe
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Identifying coordinated actions to be taken by the Member States, so as to improve the situation in the European Ammunition Market and maintain or enhance capacities and position of the European Ammunition industry.
Current Status
EDA is working on the Ammunition sector in close contact with national experts, a wide range of industry representatives and the relevant stakeholders (such as the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), NATO services, etc.). Priority has been given to the following three areas:
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Qualification, aiming at the identification and analysis of existing standards used by Member States, including the implementation of NATO standards and the identification and analysis of national test procedures on Ammunition
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Reduction of technical non-EU dependencies, including all related aspects such as lack of industrial skills and know-how, single sources of supply and International
Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions.
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Harmonisation of requirements, not only from the capabilities point of view but also in the field of logistic support, which drastically affects cooperation among the armed forces, mainly by improving the balance between requirements and competitive power of the industry on a European level by facilitating discussions on improvements for 155 mm ammunition.
Way Ahead
Having identified the priority areas where work in this project should be focused and following pMS tasking, EDA is currently tackling some more concrete issues, as follows:
- Safety is considered the most important part of the Ammunition qualification procedures, affecting among others the total cost of ammunition procurement and interoperability in the field. The European Network of National Safety Authorities (ENNSA) on Ammunition will be used as a platform for better communication and coordination of national Ammunition safety authorities, with the goal of harmonizing where feasible national practices and procedures.
- Aiming at reducing the total cost of qualification without affecting the accepted level of ammunition safety, work is also focused on the development and/or integration of computational tools (i.e software tools) as a part of the qualification procedures. This is conducted in close contact with the relevant stakeholders, among others in the Research & Technology (R&T) community, so as to identify the areas where those tools could be applied.
- Since Precision Guided Ammunition is a rapidly developing sector and considered as a key domain to maintain or develop critical European competencies (including technologies, processes, industrial capabilities and skills), EDA is working on the development of a Roadmap of actions and an Implementation Plan for the future of Precision and Guidance on Ammunition, by coordinating also its activities with the R&T community and industry.
- Based on the results in the battle field to identify improvements in 155mm ammunition focusing on harmonised requirements where feasible but also by tracing to the existing or future industrial capabilities needed able to provide the military capabilities Member States require.
- By conducting a detailed and systematic analysis on non-EU dependencies in the Ammunition sector including among others technologies, materials, skills and know-how with a view to propose prioritized actions to the member states where needed.
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