The Army recently awarded its first multi-year production contract for 155mm artillery shell production, with the service’s top acquisition official detailing a push to now produce more than 80,000 rounds per month by fiscal year 2025.
Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, told reporters on Monday the Army will soon boost artillery round production from 24,000 to 28,000 rounds per month while working “over the following year” to increase the capacity to build a million shells annually, as the service works to replenish its own stockpiles and continue supporting Ukraine.
“That ramp up is really about to kick in and we look forward to working with industry as we make that happen. And we made multiple investments there in multiple facilities. So, we’re working with a variety of industry partners on that,” Bush said. “I can’t be too specific about when we’re going to hit these production rates, but the goal of 80-85,000 [rounds] a month is in fiscal year ‘25.”
Army Under Secretary Gabe Camarillo previously said in late March the aim was to build more than 85,000 artillery shells per month by 2028, while Bush said at the time the Army could potentially reach that goal earlier if it adds more production lines (Defense Daily, March 28).
The recent $162.7 million multi-year contract for 155mm ammunition production, specifically M1128 rounds, was awarded to IMT Defense Corporation on Aug. 2 and covers fiscal years 2023 to 2027, Bush noted.
Bush said the deal, which may increase in value depending on potential future orders, is the first of four the Army is planning to award specifically aimed at increasing artillery shell production capacity.
“It’s a multi-year contract so it will allow for additional delivery orders. We did it that way because we’re getting replenishment dollars to replace what we sent to Ukraine and we want to be able to use this multi-year contract for a good portion of that,” Bush told reporters.
The Army is also pursuing multi-year deals for Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] GMLRS rockets and PAC-3 interceptor missiles, citing cost savings and industrial base stability as key factors in the pitch to lawmakers (Defense Daily, March 16).
While Congress included a provision allowing multi-year deals for certain critical munitions in the latest defense policy bill, Army officials have noted the service will require specific approval language from the appropriations committees to enter into such deals above $500 million.
Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY ‘24 defense spending bills include funding to support the Army’s request for GMLRS and PAC-3 multi-year deals (Defense Daily, July 27).
Bush noted there’s now more than $2.5 billion in government investment to support exports to expand production capacity to replenish U.S. stockpiles, continue support to Ukraine and meet the “expecting increased demand from other countries as well as other allies.”
“That figure is now flowing through the system and we are starting to see the fruits of that, in terms of accelerated production and dealing with parts obsolescence and other challenges. But that’s a large commitment of taxpayer dollars and we are committed to making sure it’s used efficiently and effectively,” Bush said.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the Senate’s top defense appropriator, said in late July he expects the Biden administration to initiate the process soon on a new supplemental funding measure to support Ukraine, which would likely include additional funding for industrial base efforts (Defense Daily, July 28).
“I think it’s already been announced that they’re working on a package for Congress to consider this fall. The details of that still have to be sent by the Office of Management and Budget. But I think we’ll have a very strong case to hopefully garner congressional support for continued funding, in particular for munitions, production increases and munitions buys to support Ukraine,” Bush told reporters on Monday.
On artillery rounds, specifically, Bush detailed how the Army is utilizing funding to boost production capacity and ensure the service has flexibility to meet continuing increased demand.
“Well, we are having to establish entirely new production lines. That’s for the metal parts, the actual shells themselves, and then we also are investing in what’s referred to as ‘load, assemble, pack’ capacity, which is filling the shells with explosives so they now become a functional weapon. So that capacity expansion is also underway at at least two locations. And then the final piece is bringing in additional production, either overseas or domestically, for the charges that go behind the shell which is the propellant that actually shoots it out of the cannon,” Bush said. “Of course, we are investing in new technologies as part of this ramp up that we hope will give us, in a potential future conflict, an ability to ramp up faster.”
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth earlier this year told lawmakers the service was keeping tabs on possible readiness impacts of the continued supply of artillery ammunition to Ukraine but had not detected any current impacts, with Bush adding on Monday he wanted to address “uninformed speculation” about the state of weapons stockpiles (Defense Daily, March 29).
“There’s lots of stuff in the public debate about production rates and stockpiles. I can just tell you, the U.S. Army is committed to and will succeed in maintaining our stocks sufficient for training and readiness of the U.S. Army while also supporting our ally Ukraine with what they need, working as part of an international team to make sure that happens. I think there’s a lot of uninformed speculation that overstates risks to our stockpiles. And I am confident that the Army has a way to accomplish both goals of keeping the U.S. Army ready and supporting Ukraine. And I think a lot of work has to be done to make sure that happens with increasing our production rates, but I’m confident that we’re going to be able to do that,” Bush told reporters.
In February, the Army selected General Dynamics and American Ordnance to compete for orders to expand production of 155mm M795 artillery rounds under a new $993.8 million contract and last November awarded IMT Defense a separate $391 million contract to produce 155mm M795 projectile shell bodies and a task order to GD to build a new 155mm artillery metal parts production line.