The Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) of the Swedish Ministry of Defense is launching the "largest in the last 40 years" purchase of 155-mm shells for firing from existing wheeled Archer self-propelled howitzers (SPHs). It is assumed that some of this ammunition will be manufactured at facilities in South Africa.
Against this background, a logical question arises as to how accessible the option of purchasing 155-mm shells for the Archer SPHs in South Africa may be for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, given the general problem of a shortage of artillery ammunition in the world.
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More specifically, in one of its publications dated July 9, 2025, Janes indicates that the Sweden's FMV has made two orders totalling SEK5 billion (USD525 million) for 155 mm artillery shells for Archer SPHs, the total cost of which is 5 billion Swedish kronor (equivalent to 525 million US dollars).
It is detailed that the first order worth 4 billion Swedish kronor for the supply of an unspecified number of shells during 2025-2027 will be received by Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) located in South Africa, the second order for 1 billion Swedish kronor will be received by the Norwegian defense company Nammo AS. Deliveries should start as early as 2028.
Based on these details, it seems that the South African RDM has a certain reserve of free production capacity, which allows it to start deliveries to the Swedish Ministry of Defense much earlier than in the case of the Norwegian Nammo AS under current conditions. But there is one nuance.
As Janes specifies in another publication, the government of the Republic of South Africa, as the owner of the defense company Denel (which in turn is part of the Rheinmetall Denel Munition structure), currently no longer objects to the fact that 155-mm shells manufactured at South African facilities are supplied to NATO countries.
However, the South African authorities continue to oppose the fact that artillery ammunition manufactured in this country can be directly or indirectly supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Therefore, in general, a configuration is obtained in which the production of shells at South African facilities can already work to strengthen NATO countries. At the same time, this source is not available for organizing direct supplies of shells to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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