Report: Nitro-Chem and BAE Systems plan UK munitions plant

Reported by a single source (Rzeczpospolita/radar.rp.pl, 27 July 2026): Bydgoszcz-based explosives maker Nitro-Chem and British defence group BAE Systems signed a letter of intent at the MESKO plant in Kraśnik on 27 July 2026 covering investment in and development of energetic materials production in the United Kingdom. Nitro-Chem — according to the source NATO's largest TNT producer, with annual output of around 10,000 tonnes — is to contribute its know-how; the planned British factory would add 2,000 tonnes per year and make UK production of 155mm artillery shells less dependent on imports. So far this is only a letter of intent; if realised it would be, according to the source, the first foreign investment in the history of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa. Site, investment volume and timetable have not yet been named.