The US Army arsenal from 1813 that’s building weapons for Ukraine

WATERVLIET, N.Y. — On a spring day here at Watervliet Arsenal, workers tapped commands into computers and peered into futuristic pods to watch a robotic arm carve small metal cannon parts.

They sat just steps away from dozens of World War II-era, rusted machining tools, which until recently were used to painstakingly craft these parts.

The facility — America’s oldest working arsenal — is nestled by the Hudson River in upstate New York and serves as the only U.S. Army facility able to produce the large caliber cannon tubes critical to tanks, artillery systems and mortars.

Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine , everything old at Watervliet is new again. The pace of battle in Eastern Europe is highlighting the long-established need to outgun the enemy, a difficult task given the strength of Russia’s artillery.

The tools built at Watervliet Arsenal are key to systems that fire on Russian troops in order to prevent them from advancing or help Ukraine take back territory. They are part of weapons that can be used day or night, in all types of weather, making for a highly reliable system.

Such weapons have played a critical role in preventing Russia from conquering Ukraine and have proved a centuries-old, but temporarily forgotten adage — artillery is the king of battle.

For Ukraine, the thousands of weapons supplied by the U.S. are essential. The U.S. has committed to sending Ukraine more than 160 155mm howitzers, 72 105mm howitzers and 31 Abrams tanks, all of which require the type of cannon barrels made at Watervliet. But the invasion has also prompted U.S. officials to take a close look at its own backlog of ammunition — and the potential obstacles to producing more. Potential single sources of failure, like Watervliet, have come under new scrutiny from the military, Congress and contractors.

Already the Pentagon has taken steps to ramp up production of other key weapons systems. For instance, when it comes to 155m shells, the military is expanding from one government-owned, contractor-operated facility in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to two more locations: One based on a partnership with a Canadian company; the other, a General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems-run factory in Garland, Texas.

But there are no easy solutions to take the pressure off Watervliet, a sprawling, 142-acre facility established during the War of 1812 that has provided U.S. military equipment used in the Mexican-American War, World War II and the Gulf War, among other conflicts. Many of its buildings are more than 100 years old. And there isn’t much room for expansion, as the property abuts the backyards of locals.

Now the Army is at a difficult juncture. If the United States wants to continue to provide systems that require large caliber gun tubes to Ukraine, like M777 howitzers, without severely depleting its own supplies, it faces an uphill task: updating the country’s oldest arsenal to modern production standards.

Lisa Sheldon, a Watervliet Arsenal machinist, prepares a cannon destined for an M1 Abrams tank on one of the recently installed hollow spindle lathes. The lathes are capable of machining longer cannon and artillery systems. (Watervliet Arsenal)

Today, demand for the arsenal’s work is growing. A spokesperson for Watervliet told Defense News that there has been an approximately 71% increase in cannon production since October 2019. Furthermore, the Army has made long-range fires a key priority and is prototyping a next-generation weapon that will require a significantly longer gun tube.

The service is currently working to modernize the facility by spending more than $1 billion to shore up and reinforce its industrial capacity. These plans will take nearly a decade to implement.

The oldest building on campus, constructed in 1828, is now home to a high-tech lab working to modernize gun tubes — a top priority for the Army — which includes developing longer-range gun tubes as well as methods for manufacturing them at scale.

Last year, Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief, told lawmakers the service planned to spend more than $200 million on Watervliet in fiscal 2023.

“It’s a vital single point of failure in the supply chain that we have to protect,” Bush said.

How to make a gun tube

A cannon barrel, or gun tube, is a straight cylinder made of metal that can vary in length and in the size of the bore — the tube’s hollow interior. Projectiles are fired from the tube at high speeds, triggered by high-pressure gases or propellant.

The Army declined to say how many cannon tubes Watervliet is producing, but a recent Wall Street Journal report estimated it makes hundreds annually.

These tubes are critical to using weapons systems like the Paladin howitzer and the M1 Abrams tank. But Watervliet is expanding its work as the service produces new systems. For instance, the Army has entered low-rate production for gun tubes for its new M10 Booker combat vehicle , Col. Alain Fisher, Watervliet’s commander, told Defense News.

The arsenal has also built a handful of gun tubes for the Extended Range Cannon Artillery system, which the Army is using to test a longer-range cannon , Fisher said.

While gun tubes vary depending on the system for which they are intended, the process for making one is relatively uniform. The arsenal first receives preformed, raw steel from outside vendors.

The steel is heat-treated to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the smoldering hot, bright orange rod then moves through the gnawing lamprey-like mouth of the rotary forge that hammers the tube into the shape of a cannon in about 14 minutes.

A Watervliet Arsenal forge technician takes measurements on a preform after it was processed in the rotary forge. The arsenal plans to replace the nearly 40-year-old forge as part of its 15-year modernization plan. (Watervliet Arsenal)

The cannon undergoes additional heat treatment to toughen up the material to withstand firings. It then moves into rough machining, followed by work on the threads and the power chamber, then the rifling of the inside of the cannon.

After final quality inspections, the cannon receives chrome plating inside the barrel, then it’s painted and packaged to either preserve as a spare cannon tube or deliver for assembly to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where it’s fired and potentially accepted.

Incremental transformation

Before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Army had a five-year plan to modernize Watervliet’s equipment, according to the head of the service’s Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Maj. Gen. Darren Werner.

“From the rotary forge to our heat treatment facilities, you’ll go across the board, you’ll see that there’s an aged amount of equipment that’s there,” Werner said. The rotary forge, for instance, dates back to the 1970s.

When Werner took on his role in 2020, he said he quickly identified several high-risk areas, such as chrome plating on the inside of the barrel as part of cannon tube production.

“It was not up to industrial standard,” he said, “and it was because we were using equipment that was outdated.”

The Army in 2021 installed modern, multi-axle milling machines that have had “a profound impact on our ability to deliver high-quality materials to support all the actions associated with gun tubes,” Werner said.

Maintaining a high standard of precision and accuracy in manufacturing is critical because a cannon tube with a defect could, at a minimum, affect the accuracy of a shot, or reduce its range or the life of a barrel. At worst, a mistake could cause a catastrophic failure.

The seven new milling machines have replaced “a lot of single-use machine tools that were old and tired from the ’40s,” John Bianchi, Watervliet’s production director, told Defense News. With the new machines, producing a large caliber gun component now takes 80 days, down from about 170, and quality has “dramatically increased,” he added.

A first-year apprentice prepares to machine his first product at the Watervliet Arsenal. (John Snyder/U.S. Army)

The Army also added a second curing system and a second machine to add rifling inside the barrel in order to increase capacity.

Early last year, the Army, as part of its 15-year organic industrial base strategy, announced a plan to invest $1.3 billion into Watervliet through fiscal 2037 to provide the arsenal with more state-of-the-art machines and enable it to accommodate new weapon systems with longer gun tubes.

In FY23, which began in October, the Army sought $221.5 million for upgrades and improvements, including a $65 million rotary forge replacement, an electro-chemical machining system and a new water-jet system for cannon tube rifling.

Going forward, Werner said, the Army must build an industrial control network that digitally links the machines. This network would collect data to manage maintenance plans, he explained.

Making room for longer ranges

Workers at Watervliet are preparing for the Army’s Extended Range Cannon Artillery system, currently in the prototyping phase and expected to enter the field in 2030.

The 58-caliber cannon is 30 feet long, nearly double the length of some other tubes Watervliet makes.

“We’ve found ways to manufacture that tube effectively using the equipment that we have, but it’s not optimal,” Werner said. “When we put a tube into the paint booth to paint it, we have to put it in diagonally.”

Most of the facilities and tools used at Watervliet are able to accommodate the longer gun tubes, but not efficiently. So the Army is taking steps to build a new long-range precision fire facility focused on manufacturing those longer parts and using modern production methods.

Fisher said the service is now figuring out where to put it. Options on the table include tearing down old housing to make space; or using space freed up by the arsenal’s efforts, already underway, to consolidate its mortar factory into one building.

The Army is budgeting to begin construction on the new factory in FY26, Fisher added. The arsenal is set to receive $130 million in FY24 and $154 million in FY25, and is slated to get $359 million in FY26, part of which will go toward establishing the new facility, he explained.

But it’s not just future systems Watervliet must prepare for; Werner said the Army also wants to ensure the arsenal can surge to fulfill the needs of foreign customers, including Ukraine.

To manufacture the 155mm cannon system for this Paladin howitzer, Watervliet Arsenal conducts hundreds of manufacturing operations. (U.S. Army)

In a statement provided to Defense News, Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief, said the service’s facilities “were not producing at capacity prior to the Ukraine conflict.”

But, he added, the production facility is not the only limit on capacity. “There is also the available workforce (which can be expanded) as well as component and material availability in the downstream supply chain,” he said.

Werner noted the Army is trying to improve Watervliet’s capacity by developing the workforce and streamlining operations.

Watervliet “has really come a long way in the last three years,” Werner said, “with regard to integration of new technology. And what they’ve [proved] is they’re very effective at solving problems, identifying how they can do things better and then integrating those solutions in their day-to-day operations.”

With the growing demand for artillery, analysts and former government officials said it might make sense to produce gun tubes at other locations.

Steven Grundman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank and a former Pentagon industrial base official, told Defense News that adding another source would “reduce your risk of single point of failure, be that from sabotage or otherwise natural, an act of God or otherwise” while also keeping “an element of competition in the game, which is good for everybody.”

Bruce Jette, who served as Army acquisition chief during the Trump administration, said it would be a “great idea” for industry to produce gun tubes at another facility. The service “should have a plan with the ability to expand our production. I know industry has an interest in trying to support doing that,” he noted.

Jette added that the Army previously considered a range of options, such as expanding a Navy facility that makes gun tubes, working with a commercial forge, or reopening government-owned facilities. None of the ideas ultimately made sense.

“It was like playing the worst Monopoly game on Earth,” he said. “Every time we tried to make a move, there’s another card you have to pick up, and it says: ‘Oh, you can’t do that because of this. Oh, you can’t do that because of that.’ ”

Asked about expanding beyond Watervliet, Bush told Defense News that “options are on the table and being reviewed” but said it’s too early to discuss those alternatives.

The Army has at times issued requests for information to industry focused on producing gun tubes in the U.S. outside of the arsenal. As recently as March 2023, Army Contracting Command released a sources-sought notice to identify companies capable of manufacturing the M776 155mm cannon tube of the M777 howitzer.

Before the war in Ukraine, the Army released a sources-sought notice for 120mm M256 cannon tubes used for tanks; last year, the service again asked contractors able to produce the same cannon tubes domestically to speak up.

Rheinmetall, based in Germany, is the original equipment manufacturer for the 120mm smoothbore cannon tube.

American Rheinmetall responded to the Army’s recent requests for information on large caliber barrel sourcing, according to Stephen Hedger, who leads the company’s U.S. branch.

Watervliet Arsenal is installing new machines to increase cannon production capacity at its "Big Gun Shop." (Jen Judson/Staff)

“Recognizing the limited capacity and rapidly growing demands on Watervliet, we have shared with the Army our interest in exploring the establishment of new U.S. industrial production to supplement the great capabilities at the arsenal,” he told Defense News.

But there are hurdles to establishing a second source. The Arsenal Act of 1920 prevents the U.S. government from seeking an outside source to build supplies and weapons the Army needs if it can be accomplished in-house on an economical basis. And the Stratton Amendment of 1986 bans the transfer of technical data used to build cannons outside of the country.

Bush said Watervliet provides the best value for cannon production “because within the United States, there is no other commercial capacity to make what is a highly specialized and defense-unique item.”

Creating additional manufacturing facilities is “theoretically possible,” he added, but it would take considerable time and upfront investment.

In a May 2023 Defense Acquisition University study by Joshua Michael Charm on the U.S. cannon tube industrial base, he wrote: “Even in smaller conflicts, the responsiveness of the industrial base is critical as time is of the essence and is critically important during war and can be the difference of the outcome of a conflict. Keeping all cannon tube production within Watervliet Arsenal is not always the best solution when demand is high enough and delivery schedules are paramount.”

“However, turning on other producers outside of Watervliet Arsenal, even those who have capability to produce cannon tubes, is not a quick process,” he added, given those efforts “must be done outside of the time pressures of an active war since the timeline will be measured in years, and not weeks or even months.”

Charm recommended a “re-examination” of the Stratton Amendment as a potential solution.

In the meantime, the Army — and the rest of the U.S. military — is trying to meet the increased demand created by the war in Ukraine, while gauging what future demand might look like, said Jerry McGinn, executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University and a former Pentagon industrial base official.

Watervliet is only just now modernizing because it hasn’t had the money or the demand, he told Defense News.

“It’s going to modulate ... we’re not going to be at this level of demand forever, but we’re going to have to just realize that we’re going to have to build above need in some places for a sustained period of time,” he said. “We have to have stocks for contingencies.

“The question is what is that kind of steady state? And I think that everyone’s trying to figure that out.”

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.

纽约州沃特弗利特——在一个春日，沃特弗利特兵工厂的工人们向电脑输入指令，并凝视着未来感十足的舱体，观看机械臂雕刻小型金属大炮零件。

他们坐在距离数十台二战时期锈迹斑斑的机床仅几步之遥的地方，这些机床直到最近还被用来精心制造这些零件。

该设施是美国历史最悠久的仍在使用的兵工厂，坐落在纽约州北部哈德逊河畔，是美国陆军唯一能够生产坦克、火炮系统和迫击炮所需大口径炮管的设施。

由于俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，沃特弗利特的一切又焕然一新。东欧战事的节奏凸显了长期以来火力压制敌人的必要性，鉴于俄罗斯强大的炮兵实力，这无疑是一项艰巨的任务。

沃特弗利特兵工厂制造的这些工具是打击俄军、阻止其推进或帮助乌克兰收复失地系统的关键组成部分。这些工具是全天候、各种天气条件下均可使用的武器系统的一部分，使其成为一个高度可靠的系统。

此类武器在阻止俄罗斯征服乌克兰方面发挥了关键作用，并证明了一句流传数百年但暂时被遗忘的格言——炮兵是战争之王。

对乌克兰而言，美国提供的数千件武器至关重要。美国承诺向乌克兰提供超过160门155毫米榴弹炮、72门105毫米榴弹炮和31辆艾布拉姆斯坦克，所有这些都需要沃特弗利特工厂生产的那种炮管。但此次入侵也促使美国官员重新审视自身弹药积压问题，以及增产可能遇到的障碍。像沃特弗利特工厂这样可能出现故障的单一环节，正受到军方、国会和承包商的重新审查。

五角大楼已采取措施提高其他关键武器系统的产量。例如，在1.55亿发炮弹方面，军方正将生产基地从位于宾夕法尼亚州斯克兰顿的一家政府所有、承包商运营的工厂扩展到另外两个地点：一个是与一家加拿大公司合作的工厂；另一个是位于德克萨斯州加兰市的通用动力军械与战术系统公司运营的工厂。

但要缓解沃特弗利特军需品厂的压力，并没有简单的办法。这座占地142英亩的庞大军需品厂建于1812年战争期间，曾为美墨战争、二战和海湾战争等战争提供过美军装备。厂内许多建筑已有百年以上的历史。而且，由于厂区紧邻当地居民的后院，几乎没有扩建空间。

现在，美国陆军正处于一个艰难的十字路口。如果美国想要继续向乌克兰提供需要大口径炮管的系统，例如M777榴弹炮，同时又不严重消耗自身的武器储备，那么它就面临着一项艰巨的任务：将该国最老旧的武器库更新到现代生产标准。

沃特弗利特兵工厂的机械师丽莎·谢尔顿正在一台新近安装的空心主轴车床上准备一门将用于M1艾布拉姆斯坦克的火炮。这些车床能够加工更长的火炮和火炮系统。（沃特弗利特兵工厂）

如今，对该兵工厂的需求日益增长。沃特弗利特兵工厂的一位发言人告诉《防务新闻》，自2019年10月以来，火炮产量增长了约71%。此外，陆军已将远程火力列为重点发展方向，并正在研发一种需要更长炮管的下一代武器原型。

该机构目前正致力于对该设施进行现代化改造，斥资超过10亿美元以巩固和加强其工业产能。这些计划的实施将需要近十年时间。

校园内最古老的建筑建于 1828 年，现在是一个高科技实验室，致力于实现炮管现代化——这是陆军的首要任务——其中包括开发射程更远的炮管以及大规模制造炮管的方法。

去年，陆军采购主管道格·布什告诉立法者，陆军计划在 2023 财年为沃特弗利特花费超过 2 亿美元。

“这是供应链中一个至关重要的单点故障，我们必须保护它，”布什说。

如何制作枪管

炮管，或称枪管，是由金属制成的直筒，其长度和内径（即炮管内部的空心部分）大小各不相同。炮弹在高压气体或推进剂的作用下，以极高的速度从炮管中发射出去。

陆军拒绝透露沃特弗利特工厂生产了多少门炮管，但《华尔街日报》最近的一篇报道估计，该工厂每年生产数百门炮管。

这些炮管对于使用帕拉丁榴弹炮和M1艾布拉姆斯坦克等武器系统至关重要。随着陆军研发新系统，沃特弗利特兵工厂也在扩大其业务范围。例如，沃特弗利特兵工厂指挥官阿兰·费舍尔上校告诉《防务新闻》，陆军已开始为其新型M10布克战车生产炮管。

费舍尔说，该兵工厂还为远程火炮系统制造了一些炮管，陆军正在使用该系统测试射程更远的火炮。

虽然不同系统的炮管样式各异，但其制造工艺却相对统一。军械库首先从外部供应商处接收预成型的钢材坯料。

钢材经过热处理至华氏2000度，然后炽热的亮橙色钢棒穿过旋转锻炉中类似七鳃鳗啃噬般的入口，在大约14分钟内将钢管锻造成大炮的形状。

沃特弗利特兵工厂的一名锻造技师正在测量一个在旋转锻炉中加工完成的预制件。作为其15年现代化改造计划的一部分，该兵工厂计划更换这座已有近40年历史的锻炉。（沃特弗利特兵工厂）

为了增强火炮材料的强度以承受射击，炮身需要进行额外的热处理。之后进行粗加工，接着是螺纹和动力室的加工，最后是炮膛内膛的膛线加工。

经过最终质量检验后，大炮的炮管内部会进行镀铬处理，然后进行涂漆和包装，以便将其保存为备用炮管，或者运送到马里兰州阿伯丁试验场进行组装，在那里进行射击测试，并有可能被验收。

渐进式转型

据美国陆军坦克汽车和武器司令部司令达伦·沃纳少将称，在俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月入侵乌克兰之前，美国陆军制定了一项为期五年的计划，以对沃特弗利特的装备进行现代化改造。

“从旋转锻炉到热处理设备，你会发现，到处都充斥着老旧的设备，”沃纳说道。例如，旋转锻炉的历史可以追溯到上世纪70年代。

Werner 于 2020 年上任时表示，他很快就发现了几个高风险领域，例如炮管生产过程中炮管内壁的镀铬工艺。

“它没有达到工业标准，”他说，“这是因为我们使用的设备已经过时了。”

沃纳表示，陆军在 2021 年安装了现代化的多轴铣床，这对我们交付高质量材料以支持与炮管相关的所有行动的能力产生了“深远的影响”。

保持制造过程中的高标准精度至关重要，因为炮管一旦出现缺陷，至少会影响射击精度，或降低射程，或缩短炮管寿命。最坏的情况下，失误可能导致灾难性事故。

沃特弗利特公司生产总监约翰·比安奇告诉《防务新闻》，这七台新铣床取代了“许多上世纪40年代老旧不堪的一次性机床”。他补充说，有了这些新机器，生产一个大口径枪支部件现在只需80天，而之前大约需要170天，而且质量也“显著提高”。

在沃特弗利特兵工厂，一名一年级学徒正准备加工他的第一件产品。（约翰·斯奈德/美国陆军）

为了提高产能，陆军还增加了一套固化系统和第二台用于在枪管内添加膛线的机器。

去年年初，作为其 15 年有机工业基础战略的一部分，陆军宣布了一项计划，到 2037 财年向沃特弗利特投资 13 亿美元，为该兵工厂提供更多最先进的机器，并使其能够容纳炮管更长的新型武器系统。

在 2023 财年（始于 10 月），陆军寻求 2.215 亿美元用于升级和改进，其中包括价值 6500 万美元的旋转锻造设备更换、电化学加工系统和用于炮管膛线加工的新型水射流系统。

沃纳表示，展望未来，陆军必须建立一个工业控制网络，将各种机器以数字化方式连接起来。他解释说，该网络将收集数据以管理维护计划。

为更远的射程腾出空间

沃特弗利特的工人们正在为陆军的远程火炮系统做准备，该系统目前处于原型开发阶段，预计将于 2030 年投入使用。

这门 58 口径的火炮长 30 英尺，几乎是 Watervliet 制造的其他一些火炮长度的两倍。

“我们已经找到了利用现有设备有效生产这种管材的方法，但这并非最佳方案，”沃纳说。“当我们把管材放进喷漆室喷漆时，我们必须斜着放进去。”

沃特弗利特的大部分设施和工具都能容纳更长的炮管，但效率不高。因此，陆军正在采取措施，建造一座新的远程精确火力制造设施，专门用于制造这些更长的部件，并采用现代化的生产方法。

费舍尔表示，军方目前正在考虑选址。可行的方案包括拆除旧建筑腾出空间；或者利用军械库正在进行的迫击炮工厂整合工程所腾出的空间。

费舍尔补充说，陆军已将新工厂的建设纳入2026财年的预算。他解释说，该兵工厂在2024财年将获得1.3亿美元，2025财年将获得1.54亿美元，2026财年预计将获得3.59亿美元，其中一部分将用于建设新工厂。

但沃特弗利特不仅要为未来的系统做好准备；沃纳表示，陆军还希望确保其武器库能够迅速扩充，以满足包括乌克兰在内的外国客户的需求。

为了制造这款“帕拉丁”榴弹炮的155毫米火炮系统，沃特弗利特兵工厂进行了数百道工序。（美国陆军）

陆军采购主管布什在提供给《防务新闻》的一份声明中表示，该军种的设施“在乌克兰冲突爆发前并没有满负荷生产”。

但他补充说，生产设施并非产能的唯一限制因素。“还有可用劳动力（可以扩充）以及下游供应链中零部件和原材料的供应情况，”他说道。

沃纳指出，陆军正试图通过培养劳动力和简化运营来提高沃特弗利特的产能。

沃纳说：“沃特弗利特在过去三年里取得了长足的进步，尤其是在新技术整合方面。他们已经证明，他们非常擅长解决问题，找出改进方法，并将这些解决方案融入到日常运营中。”

随着对火炮的需求不断增长，分析人士和前政府官员表示，在其他地方生产炮管可能是一个合理的选择。

大西洋理事会智库高级研究员、前五角大楼工业基地官员史蒂文·格伦德曼告诉《防务新闻》，增加另一个电源将“降低单点故障的风险，无论是人为破坏还是其他自然灾害、天灾或其他原因造成的故障”，同时还能保持“竞争的因素，这对每个人都有好处”。

曾在特朗普政府担任陆军采购主管的布鲁斯·杰特表示，如果工业界能在其他工厂生产炮管，那将是一个“绝妙的主意”。他指出，陆军“应该制定一个能够扩大生产规模的计划。我知道工业界有兴趣支持这项工作。”

杰特补充说，陆军此前曾考虑过一系列方案，例如扩建海军制造炮管的工厂、与商业锻造厂合作或重新启用政府所有的工厂。但最终这些方案都不可行。

“这就像在玩世界上最糟糕的大富翁游戏，”他说。“每次我们想走一步，就会抽到另一张卡片，上面写着：‘哦，因为这个原因你不能这样做。哦，因为那个原因你不能那样做。’”

当被问及是否会将基地扩展到沃特弗利特以外时，布什告诉《防务新闻》，“各种方案都在考虑之中”，但他表示现在讨论这些方案还为时过早。

美国陆军有时会向专注于在美国本土（而非军火库内）生产炮管的行业发出信息征询函。就在2023年3月，陆军合同司令部发布了一份信息征询通知，旨在寻找能够生产M777榴弹炮M776型155毫米炮管的公司。

在乌克兰战争爆发前，陆军发布了一份寻求供应商的公告，寻找用于坦克的 120 毫米 M256 炮管；去年，陆军再次要求有能力在国内生产相同炮管的承包商与我们联系。

总部位于德国的莱茵金属公司是120毫米滑膛炮管的原始设备制造商。

据莱茵金属公司美国分公司负责人斯蒂芬·赫杰称，美国莱茵金属公司已对陆军最近提出的有关大口径枪管采购的信息请求作出了回应。

沃特弗利特兵工厂正在其“大炮车间”安装新机器，以提高大炮产能。（Jen Judson/Staff）

“鉴于沃特弗利特兵工厂产能有限且需求迅速增长，我们已向陆军表达了我们探索建立新的美国工业生产以补充兵工厂强大能力的意愿，”他告诉《防务新闻》。

但建立第二个供应来源并非易事。1920年的《兵工厂法》禁止美国政府寻求外部来源来制造陆军所需的物资和武器，如果这些物资和武器能够以经济的方式在内部完成的话。而1986年的《斯特拉顿修正案》则禁止将用于制造大炮的技术数据转移到国外。

布什表示，沃特弗利特为大炮生产提供了最佳价值，“因为在美国境内，没有其他商业能力来生产这种高度专业化且国防独有的产品。”

他补充说，增建制造工厂“理论上是可能的”，但这需要相当长的时间和前期投资。

2023年5月，约书亚·迈克尔·查姆在国防采办大学发表的一篇关于美国炮管工业基础的研究中写道：“即使在规模较小的冲突中，工业基础的响应能力也至关重要，因为时间就是生命，在战争中更是至关重要，甚至可能决定冲突的胜负。当需求量足够大且交付时间表至关重要时，将所有炮管生产都集中在沃特弗利特兵工厂内并不总是最佳解决方案。”

“然而，要让沃特弗利特兵工厂以外的其他生产商参与进来，即使是那些有能力生产炮管的生产商，也不是一个快速的过程，”他补充道，因为这些努力“必须在战争爆发前的时间压力之外进行，因为时间是以年来衡量的，而不是以周或月来衡量的。”

查姆建议对斯特拉顿修正案进行“重新审视”，以此作为可能的解决方案。

与此同时，乔治·梅森大学巴罗尼政府承包中心执行主任、前五角大楼工业基地官员杰里·麦金表示，陆军和美国其他军方正在努力满足乌克兰战争带来的不断增长的需求，同时也在评估未来的需求可能会是什么样子。

他对《防务新闻》表示，沃特弗利特现在才开始进行现代化改造，是因为它之前既没有资金也没有需求。

“需求会波动……我们不可能永远保持这种需求水平，但我们必须意识到，在某些地方，我们需要在相当长的一段时间内保持高于实际需求的产能，”他说。“我们必须储备库存以应对突发情况。”

“问题是，这种稳定状态是什么？我认为每个人都在试图弄清楚这一点。”

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。