Low artillery ammunition stockpiles threaten British Army readiness

The war in Ukraine, and the rate at which both combatants are expending artillery ammunition, has raised the question of whether the British Army has enough stockpiles to succeed in a high-intensity conflict.

Western news outlets have claimed that Ukrainian troops are firing between 5,000 and 6,000 rounds a day; a high total but one dwarfed by Russian forces with an estimated 50,000 rounds.

Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow in Land Warfare at the RUSI think-tank, claimed during the RUSI Land Warfare Conference on 28-29 June that the British Army would run out of artillery ammunition in two days at the Russian consumption rate, and