NATO countries are moving ahead with at least 24 projects to produce explosives and rocket fuel, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal.

Three new facilities are being developed in the US state of Arkansas, while another two are planned in Germany. Canada, France, Britain, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Romania and Greece are each set to host at least one project.

The United States currently has only one plant producing rocket propellant. US defense and logistics company Regulus Global expects to begin manufacturing powerful triple-base propellant this year. The material was last produced in the country in 1986.

The US is also preparing to open its first TNT plant in several decades. Washington currently relies entirely on foreign supplies, with a large share imported from Poland. Three other companies intend to establish similar production facilities in Europe.

Britain, meanwhile, plans to build at least six plants for the manufacture of energetic materials by 2030.

The Wall Street Journal linked the expansion to a shift in the demands of modern warfare. The Pentagon had previously focused largely on expensive precision-guided weapons. More recent conflicts, however, have sharply increased the need for artillery shells, strike drones and missiles, requiring a fundamentally different supply system.

Regulus Global chief Will Somerindyke said neither the United States nor Europe currently has the production chain needed to meet that demand. After the Cold War ended, Western countries transferred a large portion of their explosives and propellant manufacturing abroad.

Most of these munitions require at least one of two essential components: propellant to launch the projectile or an explosive charge to destroy the target. Manufacturing either involves complex and hazardous processes, the use of toxic materials and, for Western producers, substantial bureaucratic barriers.