Theis has previously said Belgium alone would need to invest between 5 billion euros and 7 billion euros to produce enough shells to fight a two-month conflict.
“We will be able to invest at least 600 billion euros in defense over the next 10 years,” European Council President Charles Michel told the European Investment Bank Group Forum on Wednesday.
The EU already offers limited subsidies to encourage joint procurement and help build production lines, but Thys says it will take time for these efforts to yield modest benefits.
“From an industrial perspective, we’re talking about building up a supply chain over two to three years,” he said, adding that Russia has proven to be ramping up production of shells and weapons faster. he added.
European arms manufacturer KNDS plans to open a new production line for 155mm shells in Belgium, but it will take two years just to install and set up the machinery to make the circular cartridges, let alone start production.
Once the factory is up and running, it will only be able to produce 30,000 rounds a year, a fraction of the 200,000 rounds a month that the Ukrainian military needs to fight Russian troops on a 1,000-kilometer front.
“There’s a lot of silver lining…people underestimate the amount of time it takes to realize a project,” Tice says. “Europe’s industrial structure is not strong enough to support Ukraine.”