Back in 2008, Denmark sold its only ammunition factory, the Ammunitionsarsenalet AMA, to Spanish Expal for EUR 2.4 million. This plant with a rich history, originated in 1676, suffered from financial losses even after the transfer of ownership, ultimately stopped any operations by 2020.
With that, ammunition was no longer produced in Denmark, which turned out to be a very short-sighted decision as soon as the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine broke out, entailing a massive global deficit of weapons. But the Danish Ministry of Defense came to its senses only in 2023 and in October bought the plant's premises, and began bureaucratic preparations for the resumption of production.
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But this process takes a lot of time. In January 2024, the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) published an open request for information looking for industrialists that could set up production of large-caliber 155mm artillery projectiles and 120mm mortar shells (including filling them with explosives), cartridges for small arms in calibers 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 9mm, and 12.7mm, establish an ammunition storage and management company.
And only a few days ago, on August 15th, DALO announced the launch of a tender competition and published the prequalification requirements that companies must meet. The deadline to submit an application is September 16th. As per the requirements, only companies from Denmark or other Scandinavian countries are allowed to participate. The ministry warns that the ownership structure and backgrounds of people with direct influence on the companies will be investigated.
A potential manufacturer of artillery ammunition must have experience in manufacturing, installing associated production equipment, and supplying the shells to a NATO country in documented quantities of at least 30,000 155mm shells and/or 15,000 120mm shells over the past three years.
A candidate in the small arms ammunition category, similarly, must have relevant experience and have delivered 45 million 5.56mm cartridges and 30 million 7.62 mm over the past three years.
After verification and negotiations with potential participants, a tender with two lots will be announced. DOLA expects to complete the procedures no later than the first quarter of 2025. That is, Denmark will select the manufacturers within two years from the moment this entire process was initiated.
As for the timeline of implementation, we can use as a reference Ukraine's contract with Rheinmetall, which provides for two years to establish ammo production from scratch. The recently opened 30mm ammunition factory in Hungary also took a similar amount of time, a bit over 1.5 years. So, Denmark may anticipate a revival of its centuries-old ammo making tradition no sooner than 2027.
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