Poland Makes Its Own Artillery Propellant: How MESKO and the Czechoslovak Group Just Closed Poland's Most Critical Ammunition Supply Chain Gap

Poland Can Now Produce the Propellant for Its Own 155 mm Artillery Ammunition. That Single Sentence Represents the Closure of the Most Critical Gap in Poland's Entire Defence Industrial Strategy.

CSG, through one of its subsidiaries, has successfully completed the transfer of knowledge and technology relating to the production of propellant to MESKO S.A., a company forming part of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa. This marks another tangible outcome of technological cooperation between CSG Group and PGZ, through which the Polish defence industry has gained a new capability. The project that has just been completed is of significant importance from the perspective of national security and securing ammunition supplies for the Polish Armed Forces, as the propellant will be used in the production of modular propellant charges for 155 mm artillery ammunition.

To understand why this is significant, you need to understand what propellant is and why its domestic production matters more than almost any other single element in an artillery ammunition supply chain. A 155 mm artillery round consists of the projectile, the fuze, the case, and the propellant charge. The projectile and fuze are the explosive payload. The propellant charge is what launches the projectile down the barrel. Without propellant, the shells are inert metal. Without a domestic propellant production capability, Poland's entire 155 mm artillery capacity depends on foreign supply that can be disrupted, delayed, or cut off at exactly the moment it is most needed. This is not a theoretical concern. Ukraine's early combat experience showed that artillery ammunition supply chains are the single most binding constraint on sustained high-intensity operations. Poland, watching that experience from across the border, drew the obvious lesson.

The transfer of knowledge and technology included the provision by CSG Group of technical documentation relating to the propellant, support in launching a new technological line, and support in producing the first trial batch of propellant. This batch has already undergone both laboratory testing and certification testing in the form of trial firing, carried out by the Military Institute of Armament Technology. The latter was conducted under proving-ground conditions using a KRAB self-propelled gun-howitzer, confirming that the propellant's parameters comply with the defined requirements. As a result of the successful transfer of knowledge and technology, the propellant can now enter series production at MESKO's plant in Pionki.

The Czechoslovak Group Is One of Central Europe's Most Important Defence Conglomerates. MESKO Is Poland's Primary Ammunition and Rocket Manufacturer. PGZ Is the State Defence Holding That Owns Both.

The Czechoslovak Group, known as CSG, is a Prague-based defence and industrial conglomerate that operates across Europe, the United States, and Asia-Pacific. CSG N.V. is a leading defence group based in Prague, Czech Republic, operating in two segments in Europe, the United States and in other regions including Asia-Pacific. The Group sells its products to key long-term customers ranging from government bodies, mainly NATO members, including ministries of defence, to leading companies in the Group's target industries in over 70 countries worldwide. CSG has been expanding aggressively in recent months: just a few days ago CSG also announced the launch of CSG Land Systems North America, a new US subsidiary headquartered in Michigan, as part of its transatlantic growth strategy. Its stock has been under pressure, slipping a further 3.5 percent this week to EUR 14.00, extending a slide that has wiped nearly 60 percent from the share price since January. The operational momentum of the Poland technology transfer and the US subsidiary launch has done little to reverse investor sentiment on the stock in the short term.

MESKO S.A. is Poland's primary manufacturer of ammunition, missiles, and rocket systems, operating as a subsidiary of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, the state-controlled defence industrial holding that is Poland's equivalent of Germany's Rheinmetall or France's Nexter in terms of its role as the anchor of domestic defence production. MESKO's plant at Pionki in Mazovia is one of Poland's most significant defence manufacturing sites, historically producing rockets, grenades, and ammunition across a wide range of calibres. The addition of propellant manufacturing capability at Pionki transforms MESKO from an assembler of ammunition components into a fully vertically integrated ammunition producer, capable of manufacturing every element of a 155 mm round from the projectile to the propellant charge domestically.

This Technology Transfer Is One Output of a Large-Quantity 155 mm Ammunition Contract Signed in December 2023. It Is Part of Poland's Broader Strategy to Become Fully Self-Sufficient in NATO-Standard Artillery Ammunition Production.

The transfer of knowledge and technology relating to the production of propellant used in the manufacture of modular propellant charges from CSG Group to MESKO is one of the projects connected with the implementation of the December 2023 agreement for the supply of a large quantity of 155 mm artillery ammunition, concluded between the Armament Agency and the PGZ-Amunicja consortium. The December 2023 contract was one of the largest single ammunition procurement agreements in Polish military history, covering the supply of large volumes of 155 mm shells for the Polish Armed Forces over multiple years. The technology transfer provision embedded in that contract was the Polish government's deliberate insistence that commercial supply agreements must include domestic capability building rather than simply purchasing ammunition from foreign suppliers.

This approach reflects a fundamental shift in Polish defence procurement philosophy that has been building since 2022. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polish defence procurement was largely transactional: buy the best available equipment at the best available price, prioritising NATO interoperability over domestic industrial capacity. After watching Ukraine struggle with ammunition supply chains in 2022 and 2023, the Polish government concluded that transactional procurement was strategically insufficient. Every major procurement contract signed since late 2022 has included offset and technology transfer requirements designed to ensure that Poland's defence industry can sustain production independently of foreign supply chains in a conflict scenario. The CSG-MESKO propellant transfer is the most consequential single technology transfer to emerge from that policy, because propellant is the enabling input for all artillery ammunition production.

The Propellant Transfer Is One Piece of a Larger Polish Strategy to Build a Disruption-Resilient, Fully Domestic 155 mm Artillery Ammunition Production Capability From Propellant to Projectile to Fuze.

The propellant technology transfer to MESKO does not stand alone. It is one element of a deliberate multi-year Polish programme to vertically integrate the entire 155 mm artillery ammunition production chain within Polish industry. Poland has been investing heavily in HSW's Stalowa Wola plant for KRAB howitzer production, in MESKO's Pionki facility for ammunition and propellant, in ZM Dezamet for detonators and fuzes, and in the wider PGZ group for shells and casings. The CSG-MESKO propellant transfer is the piece that completes the vertical integration: Poland can now source every component of a 155 mm artillery round from its own domestic industrial base.

The vertical integration strategy being implemented by CSG Group includes, among other things, the creation of an ecosystem of partner companies which, through the absorption of technology, will strengthen the technological potential of the region. In this way, we are building fully independent supply chains and creating disruption-resilient technological cycles that increase the industrial strength of NATO's and the European Union's eastern flank, while also creating unprecedented prospects for business cooperation in the implementation of further defence programmes, including those relating to export markets. The reference to export markets in Grzonka's statement is significant. Poland's ambition is not only to be self-sufficient in artillery ammunition for its own forces but to become an exporter of NATO-standard artillery ammunition to allied nations. The combination of domestic propellant production at Pionki, large-quantity production contracts from the Armament Agency, and competitive pricing relative to Western European producers positions Poland as a potential supplier to other NATO members on the eastern flank who are also trying to build up their ammunition stockpiles.

The geopolitical context amplifies the strategic importance of this announcement significantly. Poland is operating the largest military buildup of any country in NATO as a percentage of GDP. Its defence budget was approximately PLN 186 billion in 2025 and is rising. The NATO Ankara summit yesterday announced EUR 27 billion in pipeline investment for the eastern flank. The IEA collectively released 426 million barrels of oil in response to the Iran war. In this environment, a country that cannot independently produce the propellant for its own artillery ammunition is strategically vulnerable in a way that today's announcement begins to address.