US to triple production of 155-mm shells in year to 100,000 units per month - US Army Deputy Chief of Staff Mingus.

The U.S. Army expects to increase production of 155-mm artillery shells after approving $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.

This was announced by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army, Lieutenant General James Mingus, Censor.NET reports citing LigaBusinessInform.

The lieutenant general said that by next summer, the United States will reach the production of 155-mm artillery ammunition in the amount of 100,000 units per month or 1.2 million units per year.

Read more: Ammunition collected under Czech initiative to be delivered to Ukraine in late May - Borrell

Growth of shell production in the United States

Mingus noted that in fact, we are talking about a more than threefold increase in production compared to today's figures. According to him, the US defense industry is expected to produce 30,000 155-mm artillery shells in April.

He emphasized that compared to February 2022, production will increase sixfold.

Production of artillery shells in the United States

Last year, Doug Bush, the US Army's chief procurement officer, said that Washington was expanding its production capacity and planning to open new facilities in Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas. Artillery shells are one of the few munitions whose production is controlled by the U.S. government and not purchased from private contractors.

As a reminder, under the Czech initiative, about 20 countries have allocated funds to purchase 500,000 artillery shells for the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine's allies have also created several coalitions focused on building up its air force and information technology capabilities. These include a tank coalition, an armored personnel carrier coalition, a demining coalition, a US-led F-16 transfer coalition, an air defense coalition, an IT coalition, and a drone coalition.