Monthly production of 155mm artillery ammunition in the United States should reach 80,000 rounds this fall, significantly exceeding the previously approved production expansion schedule. This prognosis was announced by Douglas Bush, chief of the U.S. Army logistics, in an interview published with the July–August issue of the Defense Acquisition print magazine, now openly available on the U.S. government website. The interview was taken back in May, however, these are still the only known relevant figures at the moment.
So, according to these figures and taking into account the gradual increase in production volumes, the U.S. should be producing about 70,000 to 75,000 artillery rounds in the 155-millimeter caliber per month as of the end of this summer. This growth is significant in several ways but the most important part is how it can impact the ongoing conflicts, particularly the war in Ukraine through military aid allocations.
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To get a grasp of how quickly ammo production accelerates due to the proactive stance of the U.S. authorities, let's take a look at previous officially announced stats. In February–March of 2022, the rate of manufacture was 9,000 155mm rounds a month, increasing to 14,000 by the end of the year and doubling to 28,000 by September 2023.
That is to compare with the initial plans: in December 2022, Doug Bush was expecting to hit 40,000 shells made monthly in the long run, by 2025. A year and a half later, the numbers doubled again, and reaching 100,000 by summer 2025 sounds realistic, the acquisition chief asserts.
Still, even with such progress, the industry is still running miles behind the actual demand. Ukraine's war against russia shows that active warfare requires Ukrainian forces to fire 15,000 artillery rounds a day, as disclosed August 20th by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, although he did not specify the caliber(s) of ammunition referenced.
That makes a monthly consumption of 450,000 shells by the Ukrainian side, most likely comprising all types of artillery, including 155mm, 152mm, 122mm, 105mm, and mortar shells. Meanwhile, russian forces spend even greater quantities, generally three times as much, reaching 44,500 rounds a day or roughly 1.3 million a month.
In this context, we should remind that while remaining the biggest supplier of artillery ammunition to Ukraine, the United States is not the only one. European countries also contribute and are actively ramping up the numbers through investment and incentives to local ammo businesses. For example, Denmark has recently decided to revive a centuries-old ammunition plant that went broke a few years ago as part of this effort. There is also the Czech initiative to procure artillery rounds from third parties outside Europe to donate them to Ukraine.
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