I suspected the customer would be European. Some time back Rheinmetall got their shell casing supplies from India blocked. Somebody had to pick up the mantel. Some circumstantial evidence presented in this article. No direct evidence yet.
Unknown company orders 100,000 shell casings in India
7 January 2025
155mm artillery shells. Illustration photo.
The Indian company Sunita Tools has received a large order to supply 100,000 cases for 155-mm shells from an unknown customer.
Business Standard reported on this.
The company has received a letter of intent from an “unidentified defense company” to purchase 100,000 M107 shell casings, which should be completed within a year after the provision of prototypes.
The customer has given us eight months to ramp up production capacity to mass production. In the meantime, he envisages deliveries of prototypes and small batches from this plant.
The potential order is estimated to cost between $23 million and $ 35 million. Sunita Tools has already received government approval to supply prototypes.
Although the customer remained anonymous, Sanjay Pandey, the company’s chairman and permanent technical director, hinted that the increase in demand is due to the growing dynamics of military operations in the world.
Production of M107 artillery shells at VOP Nováky in Slovakia. Photo credits: Czechoslovak Group.
Indian ammunition in Ukraine
This year, Reuters published an investigation that highlighted schemes to purchase Indian ammunition for Ukraine. Italy and the Czech Republic, which leads the initiative to supply artillery shells from outside the European Union, are among the European countries that send Indian ammunition to Ukraine.
According to a former senior official of the Indian defense company Yantra India, the Italian defense contractor Meccanica per l’Elettronica e Servomeccanismi (MES) was among the companies that sent Indian-made shells to Ukraine.
MES is the largest foreign customer of the Indian company, which buys empty shells and fills them with explosives. In 2022-2023, the Italian company purchased an additional production line for the production of L15A1 shells.
Customs data showed that between February 2022 and July 2024, Yantra shipped $35 million worth of empty 155-mm L15A1 shells to the customer.
Customs records also show that in February 2024, the British arms company Dince Hill, whose board includes a top MES executive, exported $6.7 million worth of ammunition from Italy to Ukraine. The exports included 155mm L15A1 shells, which, according to the customs declaration, were manufactured by MES for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Ammunition manufactured by Munitions India. Photo credits: Munitions India.
In an exclusive interview with Militarnyi last December, the CEO of Ukrainian Armor announced plans to localize the production of 155-mm M107 shells.
“This refers to the production and supply of about 100,000 rounds of ammunition next year and more than 300,000 in 2026. The state is interested in guaranteed supplies at competitive prices with the involvement of its own manufacturers,” the CEO of Ukrainian Armor shared.
Unknown company orders 100,000 shell casings in India
