NATO-caliber cartridges may become part of Finland's defense, and the Lapua factory will soon be ready for it.
A large order from the Finnish Defense Forces will significantly increase the production of assault rifle and machine gun cartridges at Jouttikallio in Lapua.
Nammo Lapua is preparing to manufacture cartridges suitable for weapons used by NATO in the future.
The company will invest 30 million euros in new production buildings in South Ostrobothnia in the coming years.
The large investments are due to a 220 million euro cartridge order from the Finnish Defence Forces. It concerns the delivery of assault rifle and machine gun cartridges to the Defence Forces over the next four years.
NATO uses smaller caliber cartridges than the Finnish Defence Forces. Caliber describes the size of the barrel or barrel of a firearm.
The Defence Forces are considering new weapon systems and the cartridges needed for them. Decisions will probably be made in the coming years. We are planning our future investments so that we can also manufacture NATO calibers if necessary, says Nammo Lapua's factory director Pekka Himanka.
He estimates that Finnish assault rifles will not be replaced by small-caliber weapons any time soon. There are many assault rifles in use.
The Lapua factory exports products to 60 countries. The United States has been the largest export country and customer, but a new large order from the Finnish Defence Forces makes the Defence Forces Nammo Lapua's most important customer.
Pekka Himanka says the order is downright historic.
There may have been a similar size sometime during World War II. So this is the largest order in a long time, Himanka calculates.
Nammo Lapua estimates that it will need 60 new employees at Jouttikallio in the next few years. It currently employs around 240 people; the number has grown rapidly in recent years.
According to Pekka Himanka, there have been a lot of applicants for the positions.
Recruiting 60 people is hard work. We have to train each employee practically from the beginning ourselves. It is a big project, Himanka says.
Nammo Lapua is part of the international Nammo Group. In addition to Lapua, it has factories in Vihtavuori and Sastamala in Finland.
The large order from the Defence Forces also benefits the Vihtavuori factory in Laukaa, as Vihtavuori supplies gunpowder for the cartridges manufactured in Lapua.
The Lapua cartridge factory manufactures cartridge components, i.e. cases and bullets, and loads cartridges. In addition to official customers, products are sold to civilian customers for hunting and sports shooting.
New premises and three-shift work
Nammo Lapua operates on a hundred-hectare plot outside the centre of Lapua.
Three new buildings are being built in Jouttikallio in addition to already about twenty of them. A total of several thousand square meters of warehouse and production space are being built.
Construction should be at full capacity next summer and it is scheduled to be completed in just over two years, says Pekka Himanka.
In order to deliver the large order volumes, new production lines are needed, and existing lines are increasingly moving to three-shift work.
Source:
Nato-kaliiperin patruunat voivat tulla osaksi Suomenkin puolustusta, ja lapualaistehdas on pian siihen valmis / Yle (in Finnish)
Nammon Lapuan tehdas sai jättitilauksen Puolustusvoimilta: ”Toisen maailmansodan aikaan on voinut olla vastaavaa” / Yle (in Finnish)
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