Denmark to resume ammo production at arms plant after 55 years

PHOTO CAPTION: Soldiers from the Schleswig Infantry Regiment on drill at the Oksboel Shooting and Training Ground, Jutland, Denmark, March 16, 2023. The regiment is one of four combat troop regiments under the Danish Army Command. Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via REUTERS

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's defence ministry aims to restart ammunition production after a 55-year gap to ensure its domestic supplies as the war in Ukraine creates increased demand for military hardware across Europe.

The ministry said in a statement on Saturday it had entered into an agreement to buy a mothballed arms factory in the northwest of the country, which was used as Denmark's only ammo supplier from its establishment in 1676 until 1968.

The ministry said it had agreed to pay 19.6 million Danish crowns ($2.8 million) to buy back the plant in Elling in North Jutland that it sold for 18 million crowns in 2008, news agency Ritzau said, citing Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

"Ammunition production in Europe is under severe pressure, and we should also try to find solutions in Denmark to contribute where we can based on Danish needs," Lund Poulsen said in the statement.

"It will take time before we are ready with production, but therefore it is also good that we are now getting started with the work," Lund Poulsen added.

The statement didn't give any details about the type of ammunition it aimed to make at the factory, which is being bought from a consortium called Krudten Erhvervspark. The plant had previously been owned by a private Spanish company and was in use until 2020.

($1 = 7.0433 Danish crowns)



(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by David Holmes)