The European Defence Agency (EDA) will coordinate a new Joint Ammunition Qualification programme backed by €50 million in European Commission funding to align how participating countries test and approve ammunition.
The programme — known as JAQ — will begin with 155 mm artillery ammunition, which member states have identified as a priority, EDA announced on Monday.
At present, each EU country applies its own procedures to verify ammunition is safe and performs as expected.
This can mean a manufacturer supplying the same ammunition to several countries has to repeat tests and approval processes in each one, under rules that may differ, the Commission-funded programme description said.
JAQ would introduce common procedures so ammunition tested in one member state would not need to be re-tested in others, with the stated objective of laying the groundwork for a shared EU-level qualification framework.
Building on existing testing work
The European Defence Agency said its role in JAQ builds on around two decades of work on “Test and Evaluation” — the process used to assess whether defence equipment meets required standards and works as intended.
Over that period, the agency has supported member states by helping them identify relevant standards and by linking test centres across Europe.
