The United States wants to start producing 100,000 shells per month in October

The United States wants to start producing 100,000 large-caliber artillery shells per month as early as this October.

Soldat & Technik reported on this.

And next year, the US Army plans to produce more than one million 155-mm ammunition in total.

The publication notes that currently, the monthly production of artillery shells in the United States is 40,000 units. The target of 100,000 is expected to be almost reached in October.

However, monthly production has already tripled from 14,500 before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. To that end, the Pentagon has invested nearly five billion dollars in recent years to expand production capacity.

Unlike many NATO countries, the production of ammunition in the United States is in the hands of the military itself. Production facilities have existed in the country since the Second World War. Since then, some of the enterprises have been partially modernized, and some have been closed.

It is worth noting that in November 2024, the then Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition William LaPlante stated that the production of 155-mm ammunition had reached 50,000 units per month. By the end of the year, he said, this figure was to be increased to 55,000.

Measures to increase production

Until 2022, all 155-mm shell casings were produced at one plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and at a private facility nearby. The shells were then transported to a plant in Iowa, where they were filled with explosives.

In May 2024, a new plant to produce shell casings was opened in Texas. Once it is fully operational, it will be capable of producing up to 30,000 shell casings per month.

Also, for the first time in 40 years, the United States will resume production of TNT for the army on its territory, which it has not produced since the 1980s, but only imported from abroad.

This resumption is an important element in increasing the production of artillery ammunition and creating a more independent and reliable supply chain.

The new TNT plant will be built in Graham, Kentucky, by the U.S. subsidiary of Repkon USA, a Turkish artillery ammunition manufacturer.