The cost of weapons can always be shocking, especially when it simply destroys the idea of how much an ordinary cartridge actually costs
From time to time, ordinary citizens begin to face the prices of modern weapons , as a result of which the level of shock depends only on the person’s preparedness. Because it is one thing to learn that a fighter like the F-16 does not cost 30-40 million dollars for a long time, but about 150 million dollars, and the price of the Leopard 2A7 tank at the level of 27.2 million dollars per unit is another.
As well as the fact that the current price tag for a tracked infantry fighting vehicle is about 10 million dollars, and a modern wheeled combat vehicle is 5 million dollars . Or that 155-mm artillery ammunition is now worth 3.3 thousand euros according to fresh contracts, but the high-precision Excalibur is 130 thousand dollars.
At the same time, these are still “big things”, but what about ordinary cartridges? And in this case, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine disclosed the cost of ammunition in the caliber of 7.62 mm in order to remove any questions regarding their cost. Although if desired, in general only to understand the order of prices, it is also possible to go to the website of any gun store and see how much cartridges cost on the civilian market.
The corresponding actual costing, received at the request from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was transferred to the publication ” Glavkom, “which published the following data regarding the cost of cartridges for the Armed Forces:
Automatic “intermediate” cartridge 7.62×39 (for AK, AKM) – is currently offered by the Macedonian company ATS Group at 0.36 euros per cartridge without delivery costs and is due for delivery in the second quarter of 2024. This is approximately UAH 14. One AKM magazine is 420 UAH, which, after squeezing the trigger, can be released in three seconds.
But this is an automatic “mass” cartridge, in the case of the 7.62x54R machine gun (for PCs, PCMs); for example, the Polish company AMMOGROM offers them for 0.415 euros per one, with delivery to Lviv. That is, it is 16.3 UAH for one, and a box of 100 cartridges for PCM is already 1633 UAH. Ukrainian companies can supply more expensively in the range of UAH 25-30, depending on the volumes and terms, because “it is needed here and now.”
It should also not be forgotten that, in addition to the Soviet 7.62, there are NATO 7.62×51, which are the standard machine gun cartridge and ammunition for sniper rifles. The latter has much stricter requirements for quality and accuracy. Snipersky 7.62×51 Ukrainian company “Ukrop” offers for UAH 65 per unit. Similar from the Czech AKM Group-CZ – 2.40 euros per unit or 94.5 UAH.
And suppose you may get the impression that a sniper “target cartridge” for UAH 65 is “expensive”. In that case, the real surprise will be the cost of the Ukrainian-made .50 BMG cartridge for the famous Barrett rifles – UAH 464 per unit in the armor-piercing version.
And this is extremely important because, of course, attention should also be paid to the fact that cartridges can be ordinary, armor-piercing (and with different armor penetration), tracer, etc., and this also has an extremely strong effect on the price.