The Army has selected General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems [GD] (GD OTS) and
American Ordnance for a $974.4 million deal to load, assemble and pack 155mm M1128 artillery rounds, the service’s latest multiyear deal for the munitions.
The two firms will compete for orders under the contract awarded on Sept. 27, which arrives as the Army continues to ramp up 155mm ammunition production with an aim to build 100,000 rounds per month by 2025.
“The Army began making investments over a year ago into our organic and commercial industrial bases to accelerate production and improve capacity for 155-mm munitions, including fuses, projectiles, propellant and primers. We are on track to ramp up production, to meet demands in Ukraine, for our allied partners, and for U.S. requirements,” Army spokeswoman Ellen Lovett said in a statement to Defense Daily.
The Army over the summer awarded IMT Defense a $162.7 million multi-year contract for 155mm M1128 ammunition production, which was the first of four such deals the service is planning to increase its artillery shell production capacity (Defense Daily, Aug. 7).
“It’s a multi-year contract so it will allow for additional delivery orders. We did it that way because we’re getting replenishment dollars to replace what we sent to Ukraine and we want to be able to use this multi-year contract for a good portion of that,” Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief, told reporters previously.
GD OTS said on Monday the company has already received an initial$ 218 million task order under the new contract, which includes “funding for M1128 facilitization and production at OTS’ operations in Camden, Arkansas.”
“This new contract will fund the installation of a [load, assemble and pack] (LAP) facility using modernized processes and air-cooling technology to improve the quality and efficiency of the 155mm artillery LAP process, while leveraging more environmentally responsible methods to reduce hazardous waste,” the company said in a statement.
The Army also previously selected GD OTS and American Ordnance in February to compete for orders to expand production of 155mm M795 artillery rounds under a separate $993.8 million contract.
“Combined, the two awards support 50,000 rounds per month of new LAP capacity by 2025,” GD OTS said on Monday.
Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, confirmed last month the Army is on track to build 100,000 155mm artillery rounds per month by 2025, a nearly fourfold increase from current capacity (Defense Daily, Sept. 15).