Norwegian Factory Gears Up To Supply Ammunition To Ukraine

Around the clock, glowing slabs of steel move from one machine to the next in a Norwegian factory producing artillery shells desperately needed by Ukraine

Raufoss, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2024) Around the clock, glowing slabs of steel move from one machine to the next in a Norwegian factory producing artillery shells desperately needed by Ukraine.

Nordic countries have stepped up efforts to supply much needed ammunition to the Ukrainian war effort.

With both sharing a border with Russia, Norway and Finland were spooked by the Russian 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Largely controlled by the Norwegian and Finnish states, Nammo is -- along with Germany's Rheinmetall, France's Nexter and the UK's BAE Systems -- one of the leading manufacturers of 155mm artillery shells in Europe.

In Raufoss, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Oslo, its factory is producing shell cases "non-stop", which will then be filled with explosives elsewhere.

"As long as we have the right machines and the right operators, there are no limits to the specifications we can meet," process engineer Sigbjorn Overboe explains.

To speed up production, Norway announced last week that it would invest 2 billion kroner ($191 million) to boost its ammunition and missile production capacity.

"It is absolutely necessary to increase European production," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told AFP.