US Army hunts for explosives to meet increased munitions output goals

As the U.S. Army seeks to drastically ramp up its 155mm munitions production to 100,000 a month by the end of 2025, the biggest concern for the service’s acquisition chief is being able to secure enough explosives to fill them.

“You have to produce enough explosives – either IMX-104 or TNT – to fill that many shells that fast and that production capacity does not exist in the United States by itself,” Doug Bush said during a Feb. 5 Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington. “We’re having to go overseas to allies. Luckily, we have many, [that are] highly capable.”

Prior to the war in Ukraine, the U.S. could build about 14,400 of the artillery shells per month. But as Ukrainian forces burn through the ammunition for howitzers sent to the country, the U.S. has taken a wide variety of steps to increase the speed and capacity of 155mm munitions production .

Bush said at CSIS that each 155mm shell contains 22 pounds of explosives. If the U.S. ramps up to 100,000 munitions a month, it would need to produce 26.4 million pounds of explosives, also known as “energetics,” per year to keep up.

The Army awarded $1.5 billion in contracts to nine companies in the fall of 2023 to companies in the U.S., Canada, India and Poland to boost global production of 155mm artillery rounds. The contracts included procuring 14.2 million pounds of bulk energetics, consisting of TNT and IMX-104 explosive.

Increasing production is also riding on Congress approving a pending supplemental budget request which aims to support Ukraine and Israel. The supplemental includes $600 million that would triple the amount of IMX-104 explosive that is made at Holsten Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee. The plant produces roughly five million pounds a year with a plan to increase to 13 million pounds.

Another $93 million would upgrade facilities to reestablish M6 propellant production at Radford Army Ammunition Plant in southwest Virginia. That propellant is used to shoot the shells, but is no longer in production in the U.S.

An additional $14 million would cover the construction and recommissioning of a black powder – an explosive combination of sulphur, carbon and potassium nitrate – production line with a company called Goex in Minden, Louisiana.

The Army would also use $650 million to design and construct a domestic TNT production facility, which will likely be at Radford Army Ammunition Plant, Bush has said previously.

Currently there is no TNT production in the U.S. and the supplies come from allies such as Australia and India.

Poland is a major supplier, but with every country ramping up production to support Ukraine and meet their own demands, Bush noted late last year, the U.S. will need to onshore TNT production.

The Army issued a request for information in the fall of 2023 on Sam.gov for the design, construction and commissioning of a facility capable of producing five million pounds of TNT per year. Responses from industry are due Feb. 17.

The service is aiming to complete construction and open the facility no later than 48 months after awarding a contract. The RFI notes that the government is assessing multiple sites for the facility.

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

美国陆军计划在 2025 年底前大幅提高 155 毫米炮弹的产量，达到每月 10 万发。该军种采购主管面临的最大担忧是能否获得足够的炸药来填充这些炮弹。

“你必须生产足够的炸药——无论是IMX-104还是TNT——才能在如此短的时间内装满那么多炮弹，而美国自身并不具备这样的生产能力，”道格·布什在2月5日于华盛顿举行的战略与国际研究中心活动上表示。“我们不得不向海外盟友寻求帮助。幸运的是，我们有很多盟友，而且他们的能力非常强。”

在乌克兰战争爆发前，美国每月大约可以生产14400枚炮弹。但随着乌克兰军队消耗掉运往该国的榴弹炮弹药，美国采取了各种措施来提高155毫米炮弹的生产速度和产能。

布什在战略与国际研究中心（CSIS）表示，每枚155毫米炮弹含有22磅炸药。如果美国将弹药产量提高到每月10万枚，那么每年就需要生产2640万磅炸药（也称为“高能炸药”）才能满足需求。

2023年秋季，美国陆军向九家公司授予了价值15亿美元的合同，这些公司分别位于美国、加拿大、印度和波兰，旨在提升155毫米炮弹的全球产量。合同内容包括采购1420万磅散装高能炸药，其中包括TNT和IMX-104炸药。

提高产量还取决于国会能否批准一项旨在支持乌克兰和以色列的待批补充预算​​案。该补充预算案包含6亿美元，将使田纳西州霍尔斯滕陆军弹药厂生产的IMX-104炸药产量增加两倍。该厂目前年产量约为500万磅，计划增至1300万磅。

另有9300万美元将用于升级位于弗吉尼亚州西南部拉德福德陆军弹药厂的设施，以恢复M6炮弹发射药的生产。这种发射药用于发射炮弹，但目前已在美国停产。

另外 1400 万美元将用于在路易斯安那州明登市与一家名为 Goex 的公司合作，建造和重新调试一条黑火药（硫、碳和硝酸钾的爆炸性混合物）生产线。

布什此前曾表示，陆军还将投入 6.5 亿美元用于设计和建造国内 TNT 生产设施，该设施很可能位于拉德福德陆军弹药厂。

目前美国没有TNT生产，TNT的供应来自澳大利亚和印度等盟友。

波兰是主要的供应国，但正如布什去年底指出的那样，随着各国都在加大生产力度以支持乌克兰并满足自身需求，美国将需要把 TNT​​ 生产转移到国内。

美国陆军于2023年秋季在Sam.gov网站上发布了一份信息征询书，内容涉及设计、建造和调试一座年产500万磅TNT的设施。业界需在2月17日前提交回复。

该部门的目标是在合同授予后48个月内完成建设并启用该设施。信息征询书指出，政府正在评估多个设施选址。

珍·贾德森是一位屡获殊荣的记者，为《防务新闻》报道陆地战争。她也曾为《政治报》和《内幕防务》工作。她拥有波士顿大学新闻学硕士学位和凯尼恩学院文学学士学位。