A new General Dynamics plant has opened in the American city of Mesquite, Texas, which will produce 30,000 artillery shells per month once it reaches full capacity.
The New York Times reports this.
Artillery for Ukraine
To supply Ukrainian troops with ammunition, the Pentagon last year set a plan to produce 100,000 rounds per month by the end of 2025. Plants in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, produce about 36,000 rounds per month. Now the Mesquite plant has joined production.
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The difference is expected to be covered by Ohio-based defense firm IMT.
According to William LaPlante, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, the United States has supplied Kyiv with more than 3 million 155mm rounds since the war began.
— Continued growth in artillery ammunition production is essential to the long-term needs of the United States and Ukraine, says Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He stated that when the US reaches production targets, it is likely that by then Russia's artillery production will still be higher than that of the US and Europe combined.
— Let’s say that in a year and a half, both the United States and Europe will produce or buy more than a million shells each. This is still less than Russia will produce this year, said Michael Kofman.
Mesquite Plant
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The Mesquite plant will have three production lines in different buildings. About 350 workers will work there. Half the workforce came from another General Dynamics plant 10 miles north in Garland.
For example, defense plants in Pennsylvania use a combination of new and nearly century-old technologies to heat and press steel blanks into conical projectiles that take days to stamp out. The new Mesquite plant produces shells much faster.
It goes like this: A machine inside a body about the size of a city bus spins a 130-pound (59 kg) steel cup at high speed while compressing it until it becomes a long, shiny cylinder. Next, the work is completed by robotic mechanisms.
A series of robotic arms grab metal projectile parts from one machine and place them on small automated carts that carry them to the next station, where another robotic arm begins the next step in the process.
Laser scanners have replaced human eyes and hand tools to inspect projectiles inside and out, quickly checking that projectiles meet required specifications.
Other weapons factories
Empty shell casings manufactured in Mesquite will be sent to the only plant to fill them with explosives — World War II plant in Burlington, Iowa. However, next year the shells will also be sent to a new General Dynamics plant being built in Camden, Arkansas.
In addition, plans are underway to open a second explosive filling line in Iowa and partially reopen the Parsons, Kansas plant.
It is worth noting that European countries are also increasing the production of artillery ammunition.
