Pentagon's Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William A. LaPlante revealed some details about the expansion of ammunition production in the United States. This process is proceeding under a government program providing additional infusion of billions of dollars into the defense industry.
While reporting during a conference at the Center for a New American Security think tank, he noted that the current production of 155mm caliber artillery ammunition had reached 28 thousand a month.
Meanwhile, according to the Pentagon's plans announced in March 2023 by Deputy Secretary of the US Army Gabe Camarillo, the intention was to reach the bar of 24,000 ammunition per month by the end of this year.
Thus, as of September 2023, the initial schedule of the U.S. Department of Defense was not just met but exceeded by 16%, and by the end of this year, the figure could grow even higher.
On top of that, the target rate of shell manufacture was raised: in March 2023, the goal was to make 90,000 155mm artillery rounds a month; now they expect to reach 100,000. That is not the first time the plans are adjusted. Back in December 2022, U.S. Army's Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Doug Bush said the desired amount was 40,000 a month by the beginning of 2025.
So, the bellows of ammo forgery in the U.S. are working even faster than the Pentagon itself expected. For better understanding the scale of the leap, we should add that last winter, American enterprises made only 14,000 155mm shells per month.
Read more: It Became Known What Monthly Rate of 155mm Artillery Shells Production United States Want to Achieve in Next Year
