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U.S. ammunition plant reaching its limit
FORT BELVOIR, Va. â The U.S. militaryâs only plant making small-arms ammunition is running at near capacity, 4 million rounds a day, and the United States still is forced to look overseas and to the recreational industry for ammunition for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and those training to deploy there soon.Gen. Paul Kern, commander of the Army Materiel Command, said Friday that giving those units priority ensured they had enough small-arms ammunition. "Everyone else will have to pay the price" and wait for it, he said. The increased demand for ammunition for combat shooting and intensified training has made deep inroads in the nationâs war reserves of ammunition, Kern said. The sole plant making small-arms ammunition, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo., is running three eight-hour shifts a day, six days a week. The plant provides 5.56 mm rifle, 7.62 mm and .50 caliber machine gun as well as 9 mm pistol cartridges for all branches of the military. EFL. Does this make sense? How are we burning through four million rounds a day? I suspect supplies are not going to the shooters first, but to the REMFâs. Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-01-12 |
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