US Misses 155mm Shell Output Goal Amid Ukraine Aid
US plants produced just 36,000 of the planned 100,000 monthly 155mm shells as deliveries to Ukraine depleted American stockpiles by millions.
The United States has fallen well short of its planned production rate for 155mm artillery shells while continuing large-scale ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, according to a report reviewed by RIA Novosti.
US authorities aimed to raise monthly output to 100,000 rounds, but by March American plants were producing only 36,000. Pentagon military inspectors found that one facility had failed to manufacture a single metal component that fully met the terms of its contract.
The plant in Mesquite received $469 million in federal funding for its construction. It was expected to produce 30,000 metal components for artillery shells each month. The report concluded that the money could have been spent on other priority needs of the US Army or the Pentagon.
At the same time, Washington continued supplying Kiev with ammunition drawn from US stockpiles. Ukraine received more than three million 155mm shells through presidential military aid packages.
The document states that American arsenals have declined by more than 3.6 million rounds of this type over the past four years.