The Pentagon plans to increase artillery projectile production by 500 percent over two years, ramping up conventional ammunition production to levels not seen since the Korean War.

NY Times reported.

The United States is investing billions of dollars in the production of ammunition to compensate for the shortage caused by the war in Ukraine and to build up stockpiles for future possible conflicts.

The solutions, which will include expanding factories and attracting new manufacturers, are part of the “the most aggressive modernization effort in nearly 40 years” for the US defense industrial base.

The Department of Defense will fund the creation of new artillery production facilities and spend about $1 billion a year over the next 15 years to upgrade the state’s ammunition production facilities and improve automation, worker safety, and ultimately produce ammunition faster. Since August alone, Congress has committed $1.9 billion to the Army for this effort.

“We are really working closely with industry to both increase their capacity and also the speed at which they’re able to produce,” Christine Wormuth, the Secretary of the Army, shared last month.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the U.S. capabilities produced approximately 14,400 unguided projectiles a month, enough for the American army. However, the need to supply Ukraine’s military prompted Pentagon leaders to triple production plans in September and then double them again in January so that 90,000 or more shells would be produced a month.

Unguided artillery shells became a scarce resource in the 11th month of the Russian-Ukrainian war, when Ukrainian and Russian troops fire thousands of shells along the front line daily.

The Army’s decision to expand artillery production is the clearest indication yet that the United States plans to continue supporting Ukraine no matter how long the war would last.

It is now confirmed that the United States sent over one million explosive shells to Ukraine.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the size of its existing stocks of 155mm shells, but Assistant Secretary of the Army Bush shared that the planned increase in production will meet Ukraine’s needs in real time and should replenish the supply of shells that were already removed from storage.

“We’re going to start seeing this summer our first significant step up in terms of rounds per month,” Bush said of the expected production targets. “The ramp really hits its stride in fiscal year 2024.”