Germany struggles to get China parts to replenish ammo stockpile
Supply of military aid to Ukraine is depleting Germany's inventory
A German armed forces vehicle fires a self-propelled gun at the shooting range of Baumholder near Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Nov. 17. © Reuters
JENS KASTNER, Contributing writerDecember 6, 2022 17:46 JST
HAMBURG, Germany -- The supply of military aid to Ukraine is depleting Germany's stockpiles of ammunition -- an issue that may be exacerbated by the slowdown of component imports from China.
German ammunition makers at a recent defense symposium near Munich flagged that the lead time for orders of cotton linters from China -- a key component for propelling charges for both small guns and artillery -- has tripled to up to nine months, German-language daily Die Welt reported.
While cotton linters are a commodity material produced and traded across the globe, the report cited unnamed industry sources saying that
all European ammunition manufacturers rely on China for them.
The massive bottlenecks in raw material supply "concern especially ammunition and special steels," Wolfgang Hellmich, the defense affairs speaker for the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) in parliament, told Nikkei Asia, when asked whether there are supply bottlenecks for China-sourced materials for military equipment.
On Nov. 28, the German government held an ammunition roundtable with arms-makers, but concrete results were not publicized.
"[At the ammunition roundtable], it was discussed how the ammunition bottlenecks can quickly be reduced, and all sides are working at full steam for solutions to prevent serious inventory gaps," he added.
The German defense ministry has not replied to an inquiry for this article as of press time.
The management of German ammunition manufacturer MEN Metallwerk Elisenhuette, was cited by Die Welt as criticizing the government for being slower in placing orders with the defense industry than other European countries. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed the statements in the report but declined to make further comment.
The delay comes against the backdrop of Beijing refusing to condemn Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, and China continuing to hold frequent joint military drills with Russia. But at the same time, Russia's firing of tens of thousands of artillery rounds per day in Ukraine have made the Bundeswehr, the German military, realize that its own stockpiles would be grossly inadequate for such high-intensity warfare.
Like other countries, Germany keeps its ammunition stockpiles secret, but many observers believe that the Bundeswehr would run out of ammunition within days or even hours in the event of war. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the SPD-led government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz established a special 100-billion-euro ($106 billion) fund to upgrade its underequipped armed forces.
With Germany simultaneously transferring ammunition to Ukraine's military, such as for multiple rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, the slowdown of imports of key components from China obviously puts the government in a dilemma.
"There is a reliance on China, and this is posing challenges for the stockpiling effort," said Henning Otte, a parliamentarian for the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who serves as the deputy chair of the Bundestag's defense committee.
Across the Atlantic, Timothy Heath, a senior international defense researcher at RAND Corp., points out that U.S. defense companies also use Chinese rare earth, raw materials and components.
"This reflects the globalized nature of production. Department of defense policy makers are trying to persuade the companies to reduce or eliminate their reliance on Chinese suppliers," Heath said.
Supply of military aid to Ukraine is depleting Germany's inventory
asia.nikkei.com