Germany has become the largest ammunition producer in the world

Since it's Germany, the money for this manufacturing ramp-up was probably allocated around 2023-2024, when older artillery was needed and before drone superiority was obvious. So maybe this is the expected outcome. If the money was allocated today, we might see it distributed differently.

Both China and the US have moved on to drones. China has purchased 1 million kamikaze strike drones to hit targets across Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan [0]; and the US is trying to invest $55 billion into drone procurement [1].

[0] https://www.warquants.com/p/one-million-suicide-drones-with-...

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47953787

Re: Germany has become the largest ammunition producer in the world

#4

Post by bluefirebrand » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:39 PM UTC

tristanj wrote: post #3

Germany is producing weapons to fight the last war. WWIII will be fought with drones, not artillery. They should invest part of this money into becoming the leader in drone manufacturing, not this. Since it's Germany, the money for this manufacturing ramp-up was probably allocated around 2023-2024, when older artillery was needed and before drone superiority was obvious. So maybe this is the expected outcome. If the…

Drones will still fire ammunition presumably?

Are they just producing ammunition types that aren't suitable for drone weaponry or something?

Re: Germany has become the largest ammunition producer in the world

#5

Post by cmrdporcupine » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:43 PM UTC

tristanj wrote: post #3

Germany is producing weapons to fight the last war. WWIII will be fought with drones, not artillery. They should invest part of this money into becoming the leader in drone manufacturing, not this. Since it's Germany, the money for this manufacturing ramp-up was probably allocated around 2023-2024, when older artillery was needed and before drone superiority was obvious. So maybe this is the expected outcome. If the…

Germany is manufacturing artillery shells because Ukraine specifically needs them and has been suffering shell starvation for years.

Ukraine's massive use of them has drained the stocks of the European powers, from my understanding.

So, no, the answer is unfortunately they need to do both. Though after the war I suspect Ukraine will take the lead on drone development.

Re: Germany has become the largest ammunition producer in the world

#6

Post by spiderfarmer » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:44 PM UTC

tristanj wrote: post #3

Germany is producing weapons to fight the last war. WWIII will be fought with drones, not artillery. They should invest part of this money into becoming the leader in drone manufacturing, not this. Since it's Germany, the money for this manufacturing ramp-up was probably allocated around 2023-2024, when older artillery was needed and before drone superiority was obvious. So maybe this is the expected outcome. If the…

I'm sorry but you're trying to sound insightful without knowing anything about German drone production.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/14/ukraine-strikes-dro...

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-germany-drone-production/337...

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2026/02/26/once-re...

https://defencematters.eu/germany-ukraine-drone-factory/