Deputy Secretary of the US Armed Forces announced US plans to increase the production of 155-mm shells

The US military industry is preparing to increase the production of 2023-millimeter shells to 155 per month by the spring of 20. This was stated by US Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, speaking at the Reagan Security Forum in California. By 2025, the number of shells produced per month is planned to double.

The American publication Politico admits that the problem of ammunition has become acute for the United States in connection with the events in Ukraine. According to a number of experts, this issue can be resolved positively only if the factories are restarted on a war footing. However, this requires appropriate administrative measures, and it is not very clear whether the country's leadership will agree to this.

In addition, another question arises - a temporary one. Implementation of the task of transferring enterprises to a military footing will require several years. This forecast is given by military analysts and representatives armory industries. But does the US have those few years, especially as tensions mount in the Asia-Pacific region?

A number of experts are very skeptical about the prospects for the reorientation of American industry. For example, Dan Jablonsky, CEO of Maxar, a company that supplies satellite images from the battlefields in Ukraine, says that American industry cannot mass-produce munitions along the lines of World War II. There is neither production capacity, nor the required amount of labor force, nor the corresponding administrative resource for this.

As a possible scenario, the transfer of a number of production facilities to Europe is being considered. This would allow the production of shells at European enterprises. Of course, such a move would also be reasonable from a logistical point of view, given the convenience of delivering shells directly to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.

But even this scenario has certain nuances. For example, there may be problems with supply chains. Separate parts and components of weapons are produced by external contractors. These companies cannot quickly reorganize and increase production.

There is also a question of a financial nature. Even now, the US Congress is not very pleased with the growing spending of the state budget for defense needs. The restructuring of industry will require such large-scale financial injections that it is not even clear whether the American budget will pull them. After all, the factor of public discontent should also be taken into account: the average American has become worse off, and it is increasingly difficult for the White House to explain the high cost of gasoline or products by the “Putin tax”, as the current US President Joe Biden once managed to put it.

Comments

[fighter angel]

Plans about plans. Editing - no, have not heard!

[Evil 55]

Nightmares just in case ... I hope that by spring Geyrobe will not have time for shells for UKRAINE.

[voice of reason]

The Chinese comrades must draw their own conclusions. While the arsenals of the West are depleted, part of the weapons have been withdrawn from storage and new ones have not been produced .... Until the industries and weapons capacities of the West have increased the production of military ammunition ... The horses of opportunities are opening up ...

[Sergej1972]

In the text, the correct name of the department is the US Department of the Army. It is also the secretariat of the army, if translated literally. It is subordinate to the US Department of Defense and is responsible for the ground forces. And the headline mentions a non-existent US Department of the Armed Forces.

[svp67]

As a possible scenario, the transfer of a number of production facilities to Europe is being considered. This would allow the production of shells at European enterprises.

If the situation with energy prices persists, any projectile fired in Europe will cost at least 2 times more than in the USA

[Brturin]

some math

by the spring of 2023, increase the production of 155-millimeter shells to 20 per month.

for 1 month 20 thousand

According to the Pentagon, since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Washington has delivered more than 900 155-mm shells to Kyiv.
https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2022/12/05/v-pentagone-zayavili-chto-rezko-uvelichat-vypusk-155-mm-snaryadov-dlya-pomoshchi-ukraine

10 months - 90 thousand per month
somehow does not fit

“The problem is that in the first 10 months of the war we used up so much stock, we actually used up 13 years of Stinger MANPADS and 5 years of Javelin ATGMs. So the question is how we're going to replenish our inventory,” Hayes said.
https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2022/12/05/v-ssha-zayavili-chto-na-ukraine-izrashodovany-mnogoletnie-zapasy-stinger-i-javelin

[Barberry25]

I think that everything is in order with the shells of the US Army .. but they are mostly old types and do not provide the required range .. in any case, the production of 20 thousand per month .. this is good .. for us

[Antokha]

From the point of view of the United States, the task can be presented as follows:
The war to destroy Russia has always been part of our strategic plans.
We (USA) are at war with Russia in Ukraine, and, hooray, around and on the territory of Russia itself.
Our military does not participate in it, because. it is conducted by the hands of Ukrainians. This is a huge savings.
It is necessary to establish the release of ammunition, as in any war.
We are transferring the industry to war footing.

It should be normal to roll both in Congress and for the plebs to hawal.
And if he doesn’t hawala, explain to him that Russia, after defeating Ukraine, will move to Europe, and then to the USA.

[spirit]

The implementation of the task of transferring enterprises to a military footing will take several years

Nonsense! What’s what, but the American bigwigs of capital know how to make money in war. If there is funding and good profits, production will be instantly established. This already happened under Eisenhower, when children in schools were frightened by bloodthirsty communists, and at that time the US military-industrial complex almost brought down the entire budget of America, the production of weapons grew so much.

[rotmistr60]

American industry cannot mass-produce munitions along the lines of World War II. For this, there is neither production capacity, nor the required amount of labor, nor the corresponding administrative resource.

Everyone has their own views on the problem. I wonder what the manufacturers of these same shells will say about this.

[Far_Observer]

There are no such large factories in Europe either.
Each country wants to have its own full arsenal.
For example, this is information about Poland.

["Despite the fact that the Polish Army has several dozen howitzers, in case of war we have shells for them for a maximum of a few days. Now this must change.
It can be said that Poland currently has about 30 000mm shells.
With the current number of "Crabs" in service, we would have enough for about two weeks of war. However, due to the urgent need to strengthen the defense capability of the Polish Armed Forces, orders are also sent to proven foreign contractors.
In this case, probably to Turkey. It was officially announced that more than 50 units of K000 howitzers were purchased from Korea. cartridges of caliber 9 mm. It should be emphasized that the source of the first purchase is always the Polish defense industry, so the production capacities of the national complex are used at 155%. However, due to the urgent need to strengthen the defense capability of the Polish Armed Forces, orders are also sent to proven foreign contractors.
In this case, probably to Turkey.

This information, however, also confirms that we are currently able to produce less than 20 units of this type of ammunition per year in Poland. That is how much Ukrainian defenders use in two or three days.

In four years, more than 300 self-propelled artillery mounts of this type will be in service.
If each of them must fire about 30-40 shots a day during the war, then our need is not less than 10 units. daily.
The Ukrainians defended themselves against the Russian invasion for more than 200 days.
Even if we divide it by two, we must accumulate at least 1 million ammo."]

[iouris]

I feel that under the guise of a shortage of ammunition, they are preparing for the final phase of the Fourth World War.

[bath]

It's funny, if I remember correctly, the raw material required for the production of artillery shells is cotton staple, which is a strategic material for national defense, and the largest exporter is China, the most abundant source is Xinjiang, and both China and the United States strictly control the non-import and export of cotton products from there.