NYT: The US is going to increase the production of 155 mm shells six times in two yearsThe United States intends to increase the production of 155-millimeter shells six times in two years for the sake of supporting the Armed Forces, the NYT reports.
This step is part of the "most aggressive campaign" to modernize the American military industry in 40 years.
John Ismay, Eric LiptonWashington – The Pentagon is aiming to increase the production of artillery shells by 500% within two years, bringing the volume of production of conventional ammunition to a level not seen since the Korean War.
He is investing billions of dollars to make up for the shortage of shells caused by the fighting in Ukraine and to create reserves in case of future conflicts.
These efforts, which include expanding factories and attracting new manufacturers, are part of "the most aggressive campaign to modernize the defense industrial base of the United States in almost 40 years," as noted in one report of the US armed forces.
The new investment in artillery production is partly a consequence of the recognition of reality: while the Pentagon has focused on waging wars using a small number of expensive precision-guided weapons, in the Ukrainian conflict the main emphasis is on howitzers firing unguided projectiles.
Before the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the United States produced 14,400 unguided shells per month, and the American army had enough of them. But the need to supply Kiev's armed forces forced the Pentagon leadership to triple the production of shells in September, and then double again in January. The ultimate goal is to produce more than 90 thousand artillery shells per month.
Unguided artillery shells have become the main weapon in the Ukrainian conflict, which has been going on for 11 months. Ukrainian and Russian troops are firing thousands of such shells daily along the front line with a length of more than 900 kilometers. Most likely, these weapons are the cause of the largest percentage of military losses.
The decision of the American armed forces to increase the production of artillery shells is an obvious sign of the readiness of the United States to support Ukraine, regardless of how long the conflict lasts.
Among the ammunition that the United States sends to Ukraine are not only 155-millimeter shells for howitzers, but also guided missiles for HIMARS launchers, thousands of anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles and more than a hundred million rounds of ammunition for small arms.
Howitzer shells that are currently being produced – in fact, these are large steel bullets filled with explosives – cannot be produced as quickly as most consumer goods. Although the way they are made changes with automation and the development of new technologies, the essence of the process – cutting, heating, forging and bending steel in shape – remains virtually unchanged.
The Ministry of Defense will finance new artillery ammunition manufacturing enterprises and spend approximately a billion dollars a year over the next 15 years to modernize state-owned projectile manufacturing enterprises in order to increase automation, improve safety and ultimately accelerate ammunition production. Since August, Congress has already allocated $1.9 billion to the army for these purposes.
"We are really working closely with the industry to increase its capacity, as well as the speed with which it can produce its products," said Christine Wormuth, the Minister of the Army, in December. She added that the process involves identifying "specific components that represent a kind of bottleneck“ and ”engaging third-party vendors to try to move faster."
According to Douglas R. Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army, who is the chief official responsible for the logistics of the army, the United States is one of the few countries able to boast significant stocks of such weapons both in wartime and in peacetime.
"In the conditions of previous conflicts, we had reserves that were enough for fighting," Bush said. "Now we are trying to increase production in order to maintain the necessary level of reserves for some unforeseen circumstances and supply an ally."
"So this is in a sense a new situation," he added.
The unguided projectiles currently being produced are a little less than a meter long, weigh about 45 kilograms and are packed with 10 kilograms of explosives – this is enough to kill people within 45 meters of the impact site and injure soldiers at a distance of more than 120 meters.
To date, the United States has sent more than a million such shells to Ukraine. Other NATO countries and America's main allies, which are not part of the alliance, also provided Kiev with shells, but most of them did not say how many.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the size of its stocks of 155-millimeter shells, but, according to Bush, the planned increase in production will meet the needs of Ukraine in real time and replenish its own reserves of the US armed forces.
"We will see our first significant step in terms of the number of shells produced per month this summer," he said, commenting on the goals for increasing production. "This acceleration will peak in fiscal year 2024."
Although new investments in national ammunition factories will provide a significant increase in production, this is still only a small part of the production capacity that the armed forces mobilized in the 40s.
According to a congressional report dated late last year, by the end of World War II, there were about 85 munitions manufacturing plants in the United States. Today, most of this work is carried out by only six state-owned factories run by contractors.
The infrastructure for the production of shells "includes enterprises with an average age of 80 years." Most of them still work "in buildings dating back to the Second World War and sometimes on equipment manufactured during the same period." This is stated in the report of the US Armed Forces on modernization, which was compiled in 2021.
According to Rob Wittman, a member of the House of Representatives, who is a member of the Armed Forces Committee, the beginning of the Russian special operation in Ukraine was a kind of "sputnik moment" (a reference to the launch of the first Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957), which clearly demonstrated the need for rapid expansion of ammunition production capacity in the United States.
"The Russian military campaign in Ukraine has shown how unstable and fragile our supply chain is, especially with regard to ammunition, the stocks of which need to be replenished as soon as possible," Wittman said during a speech to a group of senior Pentagon officials in January.
The production of artillery shells in the United States is a complex process that is carried out mainly at four State-owned enterprises operated by private defense companies. Empty steel casings are manufactured at General Dynamics plants in Pennsylvania, explosives for these shells are manufactured at BAE Systems in Tennessee, then it is poured into shells at the American Ordnance plant in Iowa, and propellant charges are manufactured at the BAE plant in southwest Virginia.
The fuses that are screwed into the nose of these shells and which are necessary for the rupture are produced by contractors at other enterprises.
In November, the US Armed Forces announced a contract for the manufacture of shell casings worth $ 391 million with the Ontario-based company IMT Defense and placed an order with General Dynamics for the construction of a new production line for 155-millimeter shells at a plant in Garland, Texas.
According to Bush, the fourth American manufacturer of 155-millimeter shells will probably be named soon.
All this increased volume of products is likely to go into action immediately, as soon as the US transport command manages to transport it to the border of Ukraine.
Ukrainians so often arrange artillery attacks that about a third of the 155-millimeter howitzers provided by the United States and other Western countries have already failed and are under repair.
The Pentagon also purchased ammunition for Soviet-era weapons that were at Ukraine's disposal even before the start of the Russian special operation and which still makes up a significant part of its arsenal, namely 100,000 shells for Russian-made tanks, 65,000 artillery shells and 50,000 missiles for Grad rocket systems.
These munitions are still produced in limited quantities in several former satellite countries of the Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe.
"We are not talking about quantities that will radically change the situation," Bush explained. "Such options are still being considered."
"Our priority is to provide NATO–standard ammunition. But a lot depends on what Ukraine wants," he added.
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The experience of Ukraine reminded the Pentagon and defense industry enterprises that the United States needs to focus more on basic artillery shells and missiles, and not just on the expensive guns needed to launch them.
The armed forces of most countries are used to buying exactly as many weapons as may be required to conduct short-term conflicts, as Gregory Hayes, executive director of Raytheon Technologies, said at a conference with Pentagon representatives in December, referring, among other things, to the inconspicuous F-35 fighter jets that his company is helping to build. "I think the situation in Ukraine has taught us that we need depth in our supply chains, depth in our military reserves – and it is needed to a much greater extent than we expected," he said.
