It will take Europe 10 years to be fully prepared to defend itself, according to the leader of Germany’s largest defense company, Rheinmetall.
Armin Papperger said that there is no more ammunition available right now.
He said this when Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited a ceremony for building a new factory that makes weapons in Lower Saxony.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen were also there.
The comments were made a day after statements from Donald Trump, who is running for president in the US, caused concern in Europe.
The Republican candidate who is most likely to win the nomination said he told a leader from another country that he wouldn’t help Nato members who don’t pay their share, and would even support attackers to do whatever they want.
Rheinmetall plans to spend over $300 million on the new facility. It is expected to make 200,000 artillery shells every year.
Mr Papperger said it will take a while to get ready for an enemy who wants to attack Nato.
“He said we will be okay in three to four years, but to be fully ready, we need 10 years. ”
“Mr Papperger said we need to make 1. 5 million rounds of ammunition in Europe. ” He said that a lot of Europe’s weapons were sent to Ukraine, so Europe doesn’t have much left.
“We need to help Ukraine as long as there is war. It will take at least five years and maybe 10 years to fully replenish our ammunition stocks,” he said.
Chancellor Scholz did not say if he was worried about Mr.