OTTAWA – Defence Minister David McGuinty says the federal government is giving a big boost to the munitions industry to build up the domestic supply of heavy artillery shells.
Ottawa will pump more than $1 billion in public funds into new facilities in Ingersoll, Ont., and Repentigny, Que., for heavy munitions used in artillery.
The funds will be split between IMT Precision and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, which is a subsidiary of the major U.S. contractor.
The goal is to quickly ramp up production of 155-millimetre shells used by howitzers and to start production of nitrocellulose, a chemical compound used as a propellant in artillery shells.
The aim is to get production of nitrocellulose up and running in the next three years.
The funds fall under the new Canadian Defence Industry Resilience program, part of the Liberal government’s new defence industrial strategy aimed at building up domestic defence production capacity.
