A US M109A7 “Paladin” howitzer (symbolic image): The United States cannot keep up with the production of artillery ammunition.Image: www.imago-images.de
The USA is having problems producing artillery ammunition. One factory in particular stands out.
July 18, 2026, 4:15 p.mJuly 18, 2026, 4:16 p.m
Tobias Schibilla / t-online
An ammunition factory in Mesquite, Texas, financed with $469 million, has not produced a single usable component for 155-millimeter artillery shells in around two years. This emerges from a report by the Inspector General of the US Department of Defense, which was first reported by the US broadcaster CBS News. The facility was intended to help replenish the ammunition stocks that the USA gave up after the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022.
According to the report, by March 2026 the operator had not produced a single component for the artillery shells that met the contractually agreed quality requirements. The $469 million “could have been used for other Army or Defense Department priorities,” the Pentagon report said.
Only 71 percent of the desired goal was achieved
The Texas factory is a symptom of a larger problem facing the U.S. military. In the past four years, the Pentagon said it used or distributed more than 3.6 million 155mm artillery shells. The United States delivered more than three million of these to Ukraine, around 218,000 were sold to partner countries through arms exports, and around 112,000 were used for training and testing. The report probably omits the size of the current inventory of artillery shells for military tactical reasons.
To offset consumption, the US Army set a 2024 goal of increasing production from 14,000 to 100,000 shells per month by October 2025. The Mesquite plant was expected to contribute 30,000 projectile metal parts per month. In fact, production in March 2026 was around 36,000 shells per month, according to the Pentagon report. An Army spokeswoman confirmed to CBS News that this number would still be current in July 2026.
Because only three other locations produce the required metal parts, the ministry expects a maximum of 71,000 grenades per month until September 2026. That would correspond to 71 percent of the desired goal. The report states that the reason for this is that the responsible army departments consciously took a risk: The operator wanted to convert existing production facilities for an older bullet model whose suitability for the new variant had not been tested. A construction stop was imposed on two of the three production lines as early as August 2025.
A 2000 self-propelled howitzer from the Bundeswehr: There are also problems with ammunition procurement in Europe.Image: www.imago-images.de
Europe also has problems with procurement
The operator of the Texas factory, General Dynamics, told CBS News that it had agreed with the US Army on a path forward for the factory that would include additional investment by the company. The report shows that the parties reached an agreement in April 2026 that will move some production from Texas to the US state of Pennsylvania.
In Europe, too, capacities for 155 mm ammunition lag behind demand for a long time. In March 2023, the EU promised to deliver one million artillery shells to Ukraine within a year, but clearly missed this target. According to the EU Commission, only a good half had been reached by the end of March 2024. In Germany, Rheinmetall opened a new factory for 155 mm ammunition in Unterlüss, Lower Saxony, in August 2025, which, according to the company, is expected to produce 350,000 projectiles annually by 2027. The Bundeswehr purchases ammunition from a framework contract worth up to 8.5 billion euros and passes some of it on to Ukraine.