“War industry”: the relocation of powder production, a strategic issue for France

Military experts estimate that Ukrainian gunners have eight times less ammunition than Russian gunners. In addition to the difficulty Westerners have in producing and delivering this ammunition, explosive powder is also lacking. The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, was to go this Thursday to Bergerac, in Dordogne, to the Eurenco site. A visit ultimately canceled. The minister will only visit a drone production site in Toulouse.

Dangerous and highly explosive substances

The French industrialist produces explosives and artillery ammunition powders. A strategic issue for France. Powder production will be relocated to the region. Until now, it had to be transported from Sweden or purchased from Italian, German or Swiss suppliers. The French industrialist Eurenco has invested 60 million euros on its Bergerac site and a new factory will be operational at the beginning of next year.

Each year, 1,200 tonnes of propellant powder should leave the factory, which would allow, on paper, the Caesar cannons to fire up to 80,000 155mm shells. That is an autonomy of barely a fortnight on the front for the Ukrainians who, at the height of the war, fired up to 6,000 shells per day.

“We are only at the beginning of the rise of the munitions industry,” puts a diplomat into perspective. “It’s going to take time,” he continues. Especially since the renaissance of French gunpowder must take place within an optimal security framework. It is an industry that handles very dangerous and highly explosive substances. Transport and storage conditions are drastic. In the summer of 2022, an explosion at the Eurenco site in Bergerac left eight people injured, including one seriously.