Despite billions of dollars invested in launching new production sites and expanding existing ones, the United States has officially acknowledged that its goal of producing 100,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition per month will not be met by October 2025.
This admission first came from John Reim, head of the U.S. Army’s Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments & Ammunition, in a recent interview. Now it's also confirmed at a media briefing by Army spokesperson Steven Warren, as quoted by Breaking Defense.
Read more: U.S. is Falling Short on 155mm Artillery Shell Production: Current Output and 1 Million Goal Timeline
Warren also noted that current output stands at just 40,000 rounds per month — a major lag behind the schedule, given that the U.S. Army had originally planned to reach 75,000 per month by April.
A new target has now been set: spring 2026 for reaching 100,000 rounds monthly. This would mean that only next year will the U.S. defense industry be capable of producing 1 million 155mm shells per year.
On a note from Defense Express, efforts to scale up production faced systemic problems from the get-go. Not surprising, because manufacturing artillery shells is a complex process where multiple pieces must fall in place and keep up with each other: from producing the casings, to loading them with explosives, fitting propellant charges, and installing fuses. In this case, it was the supply of explosives and propellants that became the bottleneck.
As previously reported back in February 2024, producing 100,000 shells per month requires about 66,000 tons of explosives annually — but only half that amount is currently available. Much of it must be imported, since the U.S. ceased TNT production in 1986 and is only now rebuilding capacity with new plants in Kentucky and Virginia. Propellant charge production has also required expansion, as it previously relied on a single Canadian plant.
Compounding the issue, General Dynamics has failed to launch a key ammunition plant in Texas. This facility was intended to host three production lines with a combined output of 20,000 shells per month. The first line was scheduled to begin operation in November 2024, the second in April 2025, and the third in March 2026. However, none of these lines have gone live, and the third has now been delayed to 2027.
As a result, the U.S. Department of Defense is now considering removing General Dynamics from management of the plant, though this measure will not recover the time already lost.
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