The Strategist

The United States opens new artillery shell production facility



05/30/2024 - 09:38



A new facility was established in Mesquite, Texas, which is close to Dallas, to produce 155 mm artillery shell casings, writes the New York Times. The business, which operations haven't started yet, will have the capacity to create up to 30,000 shell casings every month.



USACE Transatlantic via flickr
USACE Transatlantic via flickr
The business was constructed at the location of a previous warehouse. The construction took ten months, and was funded by the additional military budgets that were approved in 2022 and 2023. Half of the facility's staff, owned by the Pentagon and operated by General Dynamics, will be transferred from the Garland weapons plant.

Metal shell casings will be produced by the Mesquite factory, and will be loaded with explosives in Burlington, Indiana. Currently, two Pennsylvanian manufacturers produce 36,000 metal shell casings per month in the United States.

Artillery ammunition is rapidly running out as a result of the military operations in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, as reported by The New York Times. By the end of 2025, the United States intends to generate 100,000 155-caliber shells per month.

source: nytimes.com