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VIEWPOINT: How One Army Plant Modernized To Support Ukraine
2/22/2024
Army photo
The Army recognizes the urgent need to increase artillery production and expedite the modernization of the organic defense industrial base.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Army’s focus was its capability to function in a multi-domain operational environment. This focus included funding efforts related to the development of a 155 mm high-explosive, extended-range cannon artillery projectile with a range of 70 kilometers.
The Army also planned a decrease in the production of the legacy M795 projectile — 22-kilometer maximum range — and replacement with the M1128 projectile, which has a 30-kilometer maximum range, for war reserve, while retaining the M795 projectile for training purposes.
The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant has been the leading source of U.S. joint large-caliber artillery metal parts for more than 60 years. Artillery shells are produced there, then shipped to another government facility in Iowa for explosive filling before being brought into the Army inventory.
The plant is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility currently run by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems.
The Army’s strategy was to modernize the Scranton facility infrastructure and production capabilities by capitalizing on state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and technologies while maintaining the same level of hardware production.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine completely changed the dynamics of the 155 mm high-explosive munitions production strategy at the plant and its modernization pace.
The demands of the Ukrainian battlefield generated an urgent need for increasing production and accelerating modernization efforts in Scranton. The urgent need to support the Ukrainian defense strategy with U.S. munitions forced the Army to develop rapid production strategies to increase capacity at the plant and leverage the commercial industrial base for additional sources of supply.
The primary goal was to increase capacity production for 155 mm HE, especially the M795 metal parts projectile. The M795’s success in the war has made the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant one of the most important organic industrial facilities.
The urgent need to provide Ukraine with ready, reliable and lethal artillery ammunition brought an increased demand to accelerate the plant’s modernization efforts along with the expansion of production capacity. But it had challenges of degraded infrastructure and legacy production equipment that had exceeded their useful life. This equipment had to be replaced by capitalizing on state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and technologies while expanding capacity and production.
To support this, the Army was able to expedite funding to support modernization and capacity expansion. To this effect, the Army Ammunition Plant Modernization Plan was increased by 86 percent to meet the rapid modernization efforts and current war demand for fiscal years 2023 through 2029.
Before the Russia-Ukraine war, the Scranton plant was producing an average of 7,000 artillery shells per month. The Army’s goal is for it to produce 35,000 artillery shells per month by 2027.
Support to Ukraine has also accelerated funding and contracting. The Army is leveraging the undefinitized contract action process to expedite the procurement of equipment contract awards to support both facility modernization and rapid production capacity expansion for artillery shells.
Under this process, the Army can award 50 percent to the contractor before the contract is definitized or finalized. Under the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, the Army can award up to 100 percent of the contract funding for undefinitized contract actions that support Ukraine. Project Director Joint Services has leveraged this authority to fund the Scranton plant’s contract actions up to 75 percent to purchase critical production equipment and urgently needed facility modernization repairs.
According to the project director, as of May 3, 2023, the Army awarded more than $243 million to procure equipment for Scranton’s production capacity increase and facility modernization in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 through Ukraine supplemental appropriations.
The equipment includes new production lines for the M1128, XM1113/XM1210 — new rocket-assisted projectiles for increased range — and for M795 capacity expansion to 35,000 artillery shells per month. The Army is also leveraging multi-year production contract awards at the facility to mitigate inflation costs in raw materials for a seamless supply chain to avoid artillery production shortfalls.
The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant’s rapid capacity expansion challenge must be in sync with the total munitions requirement. Despite the need to support Ukraine’s defense, senior Army leaders and Army planners must balance replenishment requirements and rapid capacity expansion to minimize high maintenance costs of unused production capacity.
The current expansion strategy is primarily driven by the urgent need to support Ukraine’s war efforts and with limited consideration of replenishment requirements.
Project Manager Combat Ammunition Systems is also expanding the capacity of metal parts artillery production at the General Dynamics facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which is contractor-owned and operated.
In addition, the Army has leveraged other sources of metal parts supplies from IMT Canada and authorized General Dynamics to purchase the REPKON flow forming metal parts production technology from Turkey and set up new production lines in Mesquite, Texas. These expansion activities will enable the Army’s goal for a production capacity of greater than 85,000 shells per month by 2027 to be met.
The combined artillery shells monthly throughput capacity may also raise challenges when the war ends. However, capacity expansion requirement forecasts are to support the war and replenish the depleted inventory. Once the war ends, the Army will have an excess inventory on hand and excessive production capacity.
The new contracts have the flexibility to accommodate both war surge requirements and peacetime downturns with a clearly defined minimum sustainment rate. Determining that minimum sustainment rate is going to involve all major stakeholders.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has completely changed the dynamics of government-owned, contractor-operated, and industry’s rapid modernization and 155 mm high-explosive artillery production increases. The rapid production expansion strategy of the M795 and extended-range projectiles is crucial to provide freedom of action to Ukraine’s commanders as they face off with the Russians.
The M795 projectiles are essential to the survival of Ukraine in the near term and will likely have a high demand among other allied countries.
Army contracts must be flexible, robust and postured for a minimum sustainment rate in peacetime. This mitigation will ensure artillery production is effectively postured for both wartime and peacetime. ND
Army Lt. Col. Frank Musisi is the assistant project director at Project Director Joint Services within the Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition, Picatinny, New Jersey.
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