The Giraite Armament Plant, the Baltic States’ only ammunition manufacturer, has achieved full production autonomy after installing new equipment for bullet production.
The upgrades include military and sniper bullet presses as well as lead core forming equipment, allowing the plant to produce all components in-house.
“We will no longer need to purchase bullets externally, which reduces our costs and increases our capabilities,” the plant’s head, Mindaugas Kurauskas, told reporters.
According to the Finance Ministry, limited capacity previously forced the factory to source about 40% to 45% of its bullets from external suppliers, at costs 20% to 40% higher than domestic production.
The investment in the new equipment totalled 2.64 million euros, financed through a combination of the company’s own funds and loans.
Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekunas said plans were underway to install a second ammunition production line, which was expected to become operational next year. He declined to provide a timeline for a potential agreement with US and Norwegian partners on expanding production capacity.
US defence contractor Northrop Grumman and Norwegian ammunition producer NAMMO are planning to manufacture medium-calibre ammunition at the Giraite facility. (LRT)