Comments by "Antony Wooster" (@antonywooster6783) on "Ukraine Retreating Bakhmut, Russia reaches Kupyansk, Liman; NATO Out of Stock" video.
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I wonder about the supply chain for increased production of artillery shells. I really have no idea what the quantities are involved, i can only assume that they are large. Artillery shells are, as far as I know, made with a projectile which is filled, typically, with explosive. How easy is it to increase the manufacture of explosives? I should think the rawmaterials are easy enough to come by but it would need a lot of energy. The other part, the part that stays behind when the shell is fired, seems to be made of brass (an alloy of copper and tin). How are the supplies of copper and tin and where do they come from? I think the price of copper is already high, presumably this would increase it. Then there is the mercury for the detonators, where does that come from? Last I heard, the world was running out of mercury and these days, you'll need all the electronics for proximity fuses and so on. Machine tools are, I presume still made in the USA, (?) but most are, I believe, made in China. It looks to me like a pretty horrible nightmare for the logistics people.
Then there is the fact you'll need not only the skilled workers, but very careful skilled workers; as slapdash workers are not useful in ammunition production. You will also need, for obvious reasons, highly skilled, very experienced inspectors, which in such an environment is a dangerous and immensely responsible job. One dud inspector can demolish a whole factory in a matter of seconds. So of course can a careless worker or a broken machine. To me, he idea of setting up production lines, in a hurry, to produce explosive devices sounds, like advanced lunacy or at any rate, an accident waiting to happen.
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