Originally Posted by
Tartiflette Fan
That order was for 30 000 pcs costing E 63 000 0000 (E 2 100 pc )
There was a further order placed in 2019 with Rheinmetall for another 32 000 pcs with a value of E 109 000 000 ( E 3 400 per pc ) I'm unsure if that's expensive or not. The special aspect of the shell is that the explosive is very resistant to exploding other than when fired, so protects crew against sympathetic explosion in SPG. The twitter link says that the problem is due to the shell sliding backwards under its own weight after loading when the barrel is elevated, which seems to indicate a problem of incorrect manufacturing tolerances, which seems inexplicable especially since this SPG was first produced in 1996.
USA is paying $300 per 155mm shell this year. So more than 10x, is expensive. I appreciate insensitive munitions are more expensive but thats taking the pee.