U.S. is funding acceleration of Javelin and Stinger production
15 April, 2023 Javelin ATGM operator of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photo credits: Ukrainian Armed Forces The United States had allocated over £200 million to accelerate the production of Javelin ATGMs and Stinger MANPADS.
It is also planned to increase the production of the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, which are used in the M270 and M142 HIMARS MLRS. The effort was funded under the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act. This will allow the Pentagon to quickly replenish its own ammunition stockpiles and provide assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Department of Defense's (DoD) Office of Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) has entered into a £215.6 million agreement with Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR) to expand and modernize AR's facilities.
The Javelin production at Lockheed Martin. April 2022.
Photo credits: Reuters
According to the statement, the agreement involves upgrading AR's facilities in Camden, Arkansas; Huntsville, Alabama; and Orange County, Virginia, where the company manufactures complex rocket propulsion systems.
Ukraine military's Stinger MANPADS in Donbas. April 2022. Photo: Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
The funds will be distributed to modernize manufacturing processes at the company's facilities, consolidate production lines, purchase equipment, build systems to process data, as well as to increase production and delivery speed for Javelin man-portable anti-tank systems, Stinger man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS).
The GMLRS missiles production.
Photo from the manufacturer's company
The American company Aerojet Rocketdyne produces rocket engines and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Gabe Camarillo, Army Undersecretary, said that the U.S. plans to double the production of 155mm artillery shells and GMLRS missiles by the end of 2023. There are also plans to sextuple their production over the next five years.
Camarillo said at the Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Symposium that the Pentagon will spend about £1.45 billion on upgrading production facilities.
Production of 155mm shells in the USA. March 2023.
USA. Photo credits: Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post
Investments should support the defense capability of Ukraine with new shells and replenish the reserves of the U.S. army.
It will cost £349 million to add factory lines, purchase equipment, and hire second shifts. The U.S. also intends to double the production of Javelin anti-tank systems (to 330 per month) and rocket launchers (to 41 per month). Camarillo said that by 2026, the U.S. Army also intended to double (from 566 to 1,110 units) the monthly order for the production of GMLRS missiles for the M142 HIMARS and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.
Overall, the U.S. is investing over £2 billion this year in industrial facilities used to manufacture weapons and ammunition.