BAE Systems and PGZ partner to boost munitions production

Image courtesy BAE Systems

BAE Systems will transfer technology and know-how to PGZ, increasing Poland’s production capabilities and helping to bolster NATO’s eastern flank. The munitions factory will use BAE Systems’ manufacturing technology and feature the same automated technology that will deliver a sixteen-fold increase in production capacity of 155mm artillery shells at its facilities in the UK.

The Company’s 155mm artillery ammunition has played a critical and central role in the firepower capability of the British Army for more than 50 years, delivering quality, performance and advanced munitions to soldiers. BAE Systems’ 155mm shells are NATO compliant, compatible with Poland’s military platforms and interoperable with other standard combinations of charge, fuze and primers.

This partnership will increase PGZ and Poland’s ability to strengthen the nation’s indigenous supply chain, reducing dependency on overseas suppliers and creating 100s of highly skilled jobs in Poland. 

Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Chief Executive said: "This partnership builds on our existing long-term defence relationship with Poland.

"Transferring technology and learning will enable Poland to significantly expand its production capacity of critical 155mm munitions, helping to strengthen its industrial base and supply chain resilience in the face of an increasingly volatile security environment.

"This is not only important for Poland’s own national defence but will also help to enhance its contribution to securing NATO’s eastern flank."

Adam Leszkiewicz, President of the Management Board of PGZ SA, said: "When evaluating the individual offers, we placed particular emphasis on achieving production sovereignty and the development potential of PGZ’s ammunition domain.

"Considering that this is an open-ended contract, under which we are acquiring completely new competencies for many years, we analysed a very broad range of criteria.

"I am confident that we made the right choice, beneficial both for the future of our group and for our country’s international relations."

Global demand for artillery ammunition has increased dramatically over the past three years and 155mm shells are a critical asset for Poland’s self-propelled howitzers, the K9 and Krab. PGZ intends to increase its production capacity to between 150,000–180,000 large-calibre shells annually to support the country’s national security requirements.

This partnership builds on the UK Government’s aspiration of an even closer relationship with Poland, with defence industrial cooperation in complex weapons, announced in its Strategic Defence Review earlier this year.

Defence Secretary John Healey MP, said: "We are backing British businesses to win on the international stage and this investment is a vote of confidence in British industry.

"This new partnership will strengthen Poland’s security while broadening our UK-Polish defence industrial partnership, showing how defence is an engine for growth across our two nations.

"Here at home, we are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendations to create an ‘always on’ munitions production capacity."

Work will begin on the new munitions factory in Poland this year and is expected to complete by 2027/2028.