NATO Will Strive To Achieve Joint Standards Of Weapons When Defense Minister Alliance Holds Two-Day Meeting

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. (Source: NATO)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will continue to strive to achieve shared ammunition standards, Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday, aiming to reduce costs and increase ease of use on the battlefield, taking lessons from Russia's war with Ukraine.

"It's not easy but quite important," Rutte told reporters in Brussels ahead of a two-day meeting of the alliance's defense ministers Thursday and Friday.

NATO Secretary General added that defense production needs to be further improved to enable NATO prevention and defense.

"The standardization will help here, of course, in a situation where NATO countries have to really go to war, that you know that you can really be operated and that the standard exists," he said.

Sementara itu, berbicara dengan syarat anonim, seorang pejabat senior NATO mengatakan ammunition yang menentukan perangan akan menjadi prioritas saat inisiat baru dimulai, yang akan diikuti oleh peralatan lainnya.

Senior military officials regret NATO's setbacks in terms of standardization in recent decades, linking it to the defense market that has drastically shrunk since the end of the Cold War when NATO countries spent 3 percent - 6 percent of GDP for the military.

Western countries have struggled to increase production of ammunition that determines combat like artillery shells because Ukraine, which sometimes fire thousands of bullets a day, has consumed supplies much faster than allies can produce.

Despite NATO standards for artillery ammunition, its implementation is voluntary and lack of compliance has divided the market and hindered supply flow as 14 NATO countries already have the right to deviate.

Different 155mm bullets can still be used in all howitzers, but operators need to incorporate the specifics of the bullets when loading them into weapons or risk losing the target as far as 50 or 60 meters (160 to 196 ft), according to artillery experts.

However, the shooting table, a document meant to provide technical specifications, was ignored over a long period of time. NATO says they are now close to solving the problem.

"The shooting label has been left neglected for a long time. We have almost completed it for the first time since the Cold War," the official said, calling it an important step forward towards better interoperability between allies.

Beyond the initiative of Rutte, some 10 allied countries, including Britain, Germany, and the United States, will sign a statement on Thursday to push for the standardization of artillery ammunition in particular, the NATO official said.