{"id":111712,"date":"2025-08-19T18:53:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T23:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=111712"},"modified":"2025-08-19T18:54:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T23:54:43","slug":"111712","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=111712","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

155mm artillery is our current and only ‘Big Gun’
\nAnd FYI, that TNT manufacturing plant that was in the U.S. was just down the road at Carthage MO.
\nThe new plant will be at Graham, KY.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

An atrophied defense production base is one obvious sign of national decadence<\/em> \u2014 and not the fun kind. <\/em>– Stephen Green<\/p>\n

Army Falls Short of 155mm Production Goal.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Army \u2014 in response to diminishing stockpiles as it supported Ukraine\u2019s defense against Russia \u2014 set a goal to produce 100,000 155mm artillery rounds per month by this October.<\/p>\n

The service opened a number of new facilities to support this endeavor \u2014 and as one Army official stated, \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen this level of investment in our industrial base since World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Army is going to fall short of its goal. Service spokesperson Steve Warren told reporters in July that the Army is not expecting to produce 100,000 155mm rounds per month until mid-2026.<\/p>\n

The service is currently producing 40,000 rounds per month, Warren said \u2014 the same amount it was producing as of September 2024, according to a Defense Department release.<\/p>\n

There are a \u201cwhole host of reasons\u201d behind the stagnation in 155mm production, said Maj. Gen. John Reim, joint program executive officer for armaments and ammunition and commanding general of Picatinny Arsenal.<\/p>\n

One challenge has been the supply chain for production equipment, Reim said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of this equipment that we need to rapidly expand capacity, it\u2019s not sitting on a shelf somewhere,\u201d and the Army has had to depend on international suppliers, he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve [been] experiencing longer than expected lead times with some of that capability, and that has a cascading effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has also taken time for some of the service\u2019s industry partners to ramp production up to the desired rates. The Army recently issued a cure notice to General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems due to poor performance at a modular metal parts facility in Mesquite, Texas, Reim said.<\/p>\n

General Dynamics declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n

The language in the cure notice \u201cis intentionally harsh, and it describes potential options, to include \u2026 termination,\u201d Reim said. The service\u2019s role is to hold \u201cour industry partner accountable \u2014 we owe that to our taxpayers \u2014 and where we\u2019re at in terms of our 155 ramp, this is on the critical path, and so we want to ensure they\u2019re successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Army had just received General Dynamics\u2019 response to the cure notice when\u00a0National Defense<\/em>\u00a0spoke to Reim in mid-July. The Army intends to continue working with the company and \u201cunderstand the risks and what a realistic schedule looks like, and if there [are] things that we can do to help mitigate the risk to ensure that we get this up and running,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The service and its industry partners have \u201crealized some risk\u201d bringing in \u201cnew and novel 21st-century technologies that really haven\u2019t proven to be able to produce 155,\u201d Reim noted.<\/p>\n

At the Mesquite facility, the Army and General Dynamics have brought in capabilities such as flow-forming technology \u2014 which uses rollers to shape a round\u2019s metal parts \u2014 that have never been used for 155mm production, Reim said. \u201cWhile all that equipment is installed, now we\u2019re in the process\u201d of ensuring those systems produce parts that conform to the service\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t have a conforming round, then that can be catastrophic to the equipment and potentially the crew,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s something that\u2019s kind of no-fail for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other companies in the 155mm supply chain are modernizing their production capabilities.<\/p>\n

Andy Davis, vice president of engineering and strategy at Nammo Defense Systems, said the company is incorporating new automated manufacturing technologies at its Mesa, Arizona, facility, where it produces 155mm projectiles and base bleed grains.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the technology of the 155mm base bleed round relies on legacy propellant formulation,\u201d with these new technologies, Nammo is creating an \u201cefficient, high-volume propellant grain production capability that minimizes touch labor and improves quality,\u201d Davis said in an email.<\/p>\n

John McGuinness, president of munitions and government at Day & Zimmermann, said in an email the company has significantly expanded its use of robotics, data-driven process controls and digital quality assurance systems.<\/p>\n

Day & Zimmermann in March reached an all\u2011time production high, turning out nearly 45,000 M795 155mm rounds \u2014 \u201ca milestone that reflects both our workforce\u2019s dedication and the effectiveness of our ongoing modernization efforts,\u201d McGuinness said.<\/p>\n

While 155mm production isn\u2019t currently at the desired rate, the Army has experienced successes during the ramp-up, Reim said.<\/p>\n

A metal parts production facility in Ingersoll, Canada, managed by IMT Group experienced a labor strike during its build and commissioning phase, but the plant is now producing 3,000 shell bodies a month, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ramping to 10,000 later this summer,\u201d with the goal to eventually produce 15,000 shell bodies per month at the facility, he added.<\/p>\n

The Army in October 2024 held ribbon-cutting ceremonies at a pair of facilities in Marion, Illinois, and Perry, Florida, that will produce M119A2 red bag propelling charges for 155mm rounds, opening those plants two months ahead of schedule, he said.<\/p>\n

In November, the Army awarded a $435 million contract to Repkon USA to establish a production facility in Graham, Kentucky, for TNT \u2014 the primary explosive fill for 155mm shells.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stopped making TNT in the U.S. in 1986, and we were buying from the Russians. We were buying from the Ukrainians,\u201d Reim said. \u201cObviously, the Russians aren\u2019t a source anymore,\u201d while a Ukrainian production facility was destroyed early on in the war.<\/p>\n

The Army is dependent today on Polish TNT and has also sourced it from Australia, South America and Asia, he said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re excited \u2026 to bring that back to the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, the service and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in April opened a new 155mm load, assemble and pack facility in Camden, Arkansas, that will produce completed high-explosive projectiles at a rate of 50,000 per month when fully operational, an Army release stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s not all bad news,\u201d Reim said.<\/p>\n

However, the Army\u2019s struggle to ramp up 155mm production \u201craises questions about our ability to surge production in an emergency,\u201d said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser in the defense and security department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n

While production ramp-ups like this are \u201calways complicated \u2026 if it turns out to be much more difficult than we had thought, then that makes a surge strategy more difficult\u201d in the event of crisis or conflict, Cancian said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Jerry McGinn, director of CSIS\u2019s Center for the Industrial Base, said in an email that the Army\u2019s struggles to meet its 155mm production goals are linked to the state of the industrial base before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industrial base builds capacity to the terms of existing and expected future contracts, and there was no demand signal for a potential production ramp-up prior to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine,\u201d McGinn said. \u201cThe industrial base has responded to the production ramp-up, but that took time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reim noted that prior to the invasion, the service was producing 14,000 155mm rounds per month \u2014 \u201cthat was, frankly, optimized for what we shoot during the course of the year in support of training operations for the Army and the Marine Corps.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Army \u201clooked at what it was going to take to surge, we quickly realized it wasn\u2019t just production capacity, it was supply chain,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when we looked, there [were] a number of single points of failure that didn\u2019t have surge capacity to meet the rapid requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cancian said: \u201cThe closer we are towards a production capability, the higher confidence we can have in surge. And by that I mean if we have machinery that is in the back room in a state of preservation, that gives us some level of confidence. If we have a production line that is next to the primary production line, and we use it two weeks a year just to make sure it works, that gives us even more confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if all you have is a bunch of drawings in the back room and some notion that you\u2019re going to build a new building and institute a new production facility \u2014 which is where we were \u2014 that gives you much less confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, maintaining that capacity is expensive, especially in peacetime when you don\u2019t need to surge production, and doing so could appear wasteful, Cancian said. The Army will \u201chave to have a comeback to that and be willing to argue for maintaining these surge capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reim said one way the Army is looking to keep its 155mm production capacity active going forward is through foreign military sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur European partners are right behind us in terms of their\u201d 155mm production ramp-up, \u201cand I think they\u2019re going to experience a lot of the same challenges we have experienced,\u201d he said. \u201cI think our capacity could help satisfy some of their near-term requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Industry Joint Stock Company and Florida-based ammunition and primer manufacturer D&M Holding Company Inc. in July announced a joint venture to produce propellant for artillery ammunition, including 155mm shells, at a new U.S.-based facility.<\/p>\n

Oleh Huliak, director general of the Ukrainian Defense Industry Joint Stock Company, said in a press release: \u201cWe have to gradually move from large-scale procurement to our own production to meet our immediate needs. It is equally important that the company will operate in a safe area.\u201d<\/p>\n

D&M Holding Company Inc. President and CEO Dan Powers and Executive Vice President James Jones said in an email that production will begin at the new facility in mid-2026, and the propellant will be available to other 155mm producers.<\/p>\n

While the Army failed to meet its initial timeline for its 155mm production ramp-up, producing 100,000 rounds per month is still the goal, Reim said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got the resourcing. We\u2019ve got a lot of the authorities that have enabled us to get money and execution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It has taken a \u201cwhole-of-government approach to get after this,\u201d and \u201cwe\u2019re working hard with our industry partners, and we\u2019re going to hold them accountable when they\u2019re not meeting their contract requirements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

155mm artillery is our current and only ‘Big Gun’ And FYI, that TNT manufacturing plant that was in the U.S. was just down the road at Carthage MO. The new plant will be at Graham, KY. An atrophied defense production base is one obvious sign of national decadence \u2014 and not the fun kind. – … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111715,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111712\/revisions\/111715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}