Appetite for Destruction: US Gambles on New Texas Factory to Churn Out Ammo for Ukraine
© AP Photo / Matt Rourke
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The Ukraine proxy conflict continues to feed the insatiable US cycle of arms spending and production, with yet another newly-unveiled manufacturing facility joining its ranks.
A Texas factory that reportedly cost US$500 million to build is geared towards boosting the gravy train of US warmongers.
NATO’s proxy conflict in Ukraine has an avid appetite for ammunition and has eaten its way into both US and EU stocks with lackluster results to show for it. The Pentagon is hoping the General Dynamics facility in Mesquite, Texas, will help satiate this ammo craving.
American factories in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, together produce about 36,000 155mm shells per month. Managed by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD.N), the new Universal Artillery Projectile Lines facility jam-packed with cutting-edge machinery can churn out 30,000 units per month for the Kiev regime.
Screenshot of production line for making 155-millimeter shells at the General Dynamics facility in Mesquite, Texas.
© Photo : Desiree Rios/The New York Times
The plant was bankrolled through supplemental spending bills from FY 2022 and 2023, and boasts three production lines. Its novel equipment enables the manufacture of various shells and mortars on the same line. Empty shells made in Mesquite will be sent to a plant in Burlington, Iowa, for filling. The target goal is to churn out a monthly amount of 100,000 by the end of 2025.
Ukraine will not launch its own production of 155 mm caliber shells until the second half of 2024, The Washington Post has quoted sources as saying.
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) March 20, 2024
According to a source, there is a catastrophic shortage of these shells on the front line, but production will not begin until "the… pic.twitter.com/sRJ8D9a8CL
The United States and European countries have shipped tens of billions-worth of sophisticated military hardware to Ukraine, emptying their own armories of critical arms and ammunition stocks. None of the pricey hardware that taxpayers were fleeced over has helped Kiev, as the Zelensky regime racks up huge manpower losses in the face of consistent gains by Russia’s military. In the meantime, American weapons makers have been enjoying a profit-making bonanza, fueled by the “well-greased” machine of lobbying in the US Congress.
