New gunpowder production line in France to start operating in January 2025
22 December, 2024 Production of modular charges at Eurenco's facility. Photo credits: Eurenco Eurenco's new gunpowder production line for artillery projectiles in France will start operating in January 2025.
It will produce products, in particular, in the interests of Ukraine. The Forces Operations Blog reported on this. Once at full capacity, the new lines will double the annual production of projectile charges for 155-mm artillery shells.
Construction of new production lines in the French city of Bergerac for the needs of the EU and Ukraine started in April 2024.
Construction of a new production line for the powder plant in Bergerac begins. April 2024, France. Photo credits: www.rfi.fr
This facility was established during the First World War, but by the time the full-scale invasion began, it was at risk of bankruptcy.
Since 2023, the facility has again become strategic for the French state and the entire European military industry. After that, a project called "PURPLE" was launched, which involves the launch of a fully automated line that will combine new technologies to improve reliability and productivity.
The French President inspects the production lines of the gunpowder factory in Bergerac. April 2024, France.
Photo credits: www.rfi.fr
Nine months after the start of construction, 15 new buildings have been constructed on Eurenco's 15-hectare site. The first new gunpowder production line will start operating in January 2025, and the last one should be operational by mid-2025. According to the plan, once the new production facility reaches full capacity in 2027, the company will produce 1,200 tons of gunpowder, doubling its production capacity.
This is enough to produce 500,000 additional modular charges per year.
Production of modular charges at Eurenco's facility. Photo credits: Eurenco
The new production facility is scheduled to start supplying products to Ukraine in mid-2025.
Each shot uses 2 to 6 modular charges, depending on the required range, the capabilities of the artillery system and the permissible number of charges for a particular type of projectile. For this expansion, the company invested about 100 million euros in 2024, 90% of which was invested in the Bergerac facility. It also received EUR10 million from the French state and EUR47 million from Europe under the Ammunition Support Act (ASAP) mechanism to implement the PURPLE project.
"We have received firm orders until 2032. Orders that are currently three times the group's capacity. Even with the investments we have made, the demand is much higher than we can produce," Eurenco CEO Thierry Franco explains.
In total, Eurenco is investing EUR500 million in the production of powders at its plants in Europe.
The facilities in Karlskoga, Sweden, and Clermont, Belgium, will also receive investments in production.