The US was unable to meet its plan to ramp up production of 155-mm artillery shells to replenish its stockpiles, part of which was sent to Ukraine as military aid. CBS News reports this, citing a report by the Inspector General of the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon).
The report, published on Monday, July 13, it is noted that the new ammunition plant built in Mesquite, Texas, has not produced a single round in the approximately two years since its construction.
According to the report, the Pentagon has used 3.6 million 155-mm artillery shells over the past four years. The report does not specify how many shells remain in US Army stockpiles.
More than 3 million shells were transferred to Ukraine as part of the arms packages promised by President Joseph Biden’s administration. About 112,000 shells were used for training and testing, and another 218,000 were transferred to other countries.
Based on consumption rates in Ukraine and projected sales abroad, the army set a goal in 2024 to increase production of 155-mm shells from 14,000 to 100,000 per month by October 2025. To this end, a factory for producing certain shell components was built in Mesquite. It opened in May 2024.
A report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General noted that as of March 2026, the US was producing approximately 36,000 shells per month, which, as before, well below the target of 100,000. This is partly due to the fact that the plant in Mesquite was unable to manufacture any of the 30,000 metal parts for the shells that it was supposed to produce each month.
An unnamed Pentagon official told CBS News that this information is current as of this month.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on June 26, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced a large-scale tender for the procurement of 155-mm artillery shells with extended range.
We also reported that earlier, the German defense contractor Rheinmetall announced that a NATO country had ordered the production of 155-mm shells for Ukraine.
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