Prakash Nanda
EVEN Russia is trying to localise the production of artillery gunpowder from its own raw material to reduce dependence on foreign supplies. It has begun commercial production of gunpowder from alternative raw material, such as wood and flax pulp.
Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 29 that Russia was still producing little nitrocellulose, the main component of artillery gunpowder brands, and relied more on raw material from abroad. According to the report, in the first year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, imports of these products increased by 70 per cent in 2022. By mid-2023, 3,039 tonnes had been imported, almost twice as much as in 2021.
Turkish company Noy
According to the report, almost half of Russia’s current nitrocellulose imports go through a small Turkish company, Noy. Through this company, Russia buys nitrocellulose produced in the US, Germany, and Taiwan.
It is said that the German subsidiaries of New York-based International Flavors & Fragrances sold at least 80 tonnes of nitrocellulose to Noy, which then shipped the products to Russia. Taiwan’s TNC Industrial produced more than 500 tonnes of nitrocellulose, which Noy shipped to Russia last year. In addition, the Russian importer Analytical Marketing Chemical Group has received nitrocellulose from Taiwan over the past two years, worth almost $700,000. The organisation’s website states that it is a regular partner of Russia’s Kazan Gunpowder Plant.
Subsidies in Europe
As far as Europe is concerned, the European Commission reckons the bloc will be producing two million shells a year, and for this, it is subsidising factories aimed at increasing powder production. The commission wants the European gunpowder manufacturers to diversify their sources of supply (mainly China) of the raw material, but alternate sources of the powder, like India and Thailand, are found to be inadequate. So, work is in progress by investing in new solutions such as wood cellulose.
Existing plants in Europe are being modernised for increased production, according to reports. These include the European market leaders Rheinmetall (Germany), Eurenco (France), KNDS (Belgium), and Nammo (Norway) and relatively new ones like Karlskoga (Sweden), Aschau (Germany), Wimmis (Switzerland), Pardubice (Czechia), and Granada (Spain). New plants are planned in Hungary and Romania, among other places. In Bergerac (France), a historic facility is being reactivated on a large scale. Apparently, proposals are on to convert plants in Eastern Europe (that were previously producing to ex-Soviet standards) to NATO standards.
Upgrading not easy
However, as Amos Dossi rightly points out, upgrading and installing new plants in the Western world is not that easy, given the factors of environmental regulations, energy, and labour costs, as well as marked difficulties in finding suitable production sites and skilled workers.
Of course, the best way to deal with the situation is to ensure that conventional wars are not dependent on firepower, particularly artillery. This can be done if modern weapons, such as electrically powered drones, laser weapons, and electromagnetic guns, prove to be good enough instead of large-caliber guns and missiles.
However, such a situation is far away as it is not foreseeable to what extent advances in target detection and tracking, as well as electric propulsion, can contribute to the displacement of conventional artillery. Thus, artillery will remain important for the foreseeable future. That means gunpowder will remain in high demand. Therefore, removing the bottlenecks in its production and supply chain (which means dealing with the China factor) will be a huge challenge for every government to ensure national security
