Giraitės arms factory begins producing all bullets in-house after new presses installed

Giraitės ginkluotės gamykla, the sole ammunition manufacturer in the Baltic states, has begun producing all bullets required for its ammunition in-house following the installation of two new presses.

The Vilnius-based factory said the new equipment allows it to eliminate external purchases of bullets, which previously accounted for 40–45 per cent of its needs and cost 20–40 per cent more than in-house production.

“Today we opened a bullet press that allows the company to streamline the production process to maximise throughput,” Giraitės ginkluotės gamyklos director Mindaugas Kurauskas told reporters on Friday. “This means we no longer need to buy bullets externally, reducing our costs and increasing our capacity.”

The second press is used for forming lead cores, which are incorporated into some bullet designs alongside steel.

Previously, the factory could produce only half the bullets it needed to match its overall ammunition output. “If the factory produces 250 units per minute, we were making only 125 bullets per minute,” Kurauskas said. “Now we can produce them in full.”

The investment in both presses totalled €2.64 million, financed with a mix of the company’s own funds and loans.

Lithuania’s finance minister, Kristupas Vaitiekūnas, said the government plans to build a second ammunition production line, expected to begin operations next year. “This press allows us to optimise the first production line, removing a bottleneck so it can operate at full capacity,” he said. “We plan to build a second production line.”

Vaitiekūnas said the new line is expected to generate profit, expand export markets and become an integral part of national security. He declined to specify when agreements would be finalised with American and Norwegian defence industries to produce medium-range ammunition.

“Intensive negotiations are underway on medium-range ammunition production,” he said. “I cannot comment further without risking the negotiation process.”

Last year, Giraitės ginkluotės gamykla reported a 24 per cent revenue increase to €28.4 million. The factory is part of Rheinmetall Defence Lietuva, a joint venture with Germany’s Rheinmetall that implements a 1 per cent stake in a Rheinmetall ammunition plant project.

Giraitės ginkluotės gamykla plans to acquire an additional 48 per cent of the “Epso-G Invest” company in the future.