New $500M Artillery Shell Plant Failed To Produce Any 155mm Parts

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New $500M Artillery Shell Plant Failed To Produce Any 155mm Parts

A scathing new Pentagon Inspector General report found problems at the plant delayed the Army's 100,000 round-per-month goal.

By Howard Altman

Published

Jul 14, 2026 2:28 PM EDT

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The inability of a munitions plant in Mesquite, Texas, to build a key part set back the U.S. Army’s plans for ramping up production of 155mm shells to 100,000 rounds per month, according to a scathing new report by the War Department’s Office of Inspector General (DOWIG). Despite receiving close to $500 million from the U.S. Army funded through supplemental spending bills from Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), failed to make a single subcomponent needed to produce the badly needed shells as of last March.

"Without the 30,000 additional projectile metal parts anticipated from the Mesquite facility, the Army will be unable to reach its monthly capability goal of 100,000 155-mm artillery rounds," the report concluded. "As of March 2026, the CPE A&E [Capability Program Executive Ammunition & Energetics] officials have not developed a plan to produce the additional rounds that are supposed to be produced at the Mesquite facility."

At present, the Army is only producing 36,000 rounds per month, inspectors revealed.

➡️NEW REPORT ⬅️While the DoW increased its capability and capacity to produce 155-millimeter (mm) artillery, it did not reach its own modernization plan goal of 100,000 155-mm rounds per month. Find out what this could mean for military readiness🔗: https://t.co/7GgfXQqa7H<br>— DoW Office of Inspector General (@DoW_IG) July 13, 2026

Through modernization efforts and two new facilities, the Army expects to exceed the 100,000-round-per-month goal significantly by the end of next year. The initial goal was established by Congress in the wake of the U.S. providing millions of rounds to Ukraine.

Still, the report highlights the challenges U.S. arms makers face in trying to meet tighter timelines to produce more weapons. This all comes as the U.S. is increasingly concerned about stockpiles of a wide array of munitions after heavy usage in past and current conflicts and donations to partners like Ukraine, as well as foreign military sales. These are issues that we raised long before and during the current war with Iran, but they have become major headlines in the aftermath of the initial stages of that conflict.

The plant at the center of this new report is the Universal Artillery Projectile Line owned and operated by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems. It opened in May 2024 to great fanfare and high hopes.

Then-Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth toured the Universal Artillery Projectile Line (UAPL) during the opening ceremony in Mesquite, Texas, on May 29, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Mejia)

According to the IG report, more than three million 155mm shells were donated to Ukraine, more than 111,000 rounds were used over the past four years on training and testing, and nearly 218,000 rounds were sold to foreign customers. Combined, U.S. stocks were depleted by more than 3.6 million rounds since the start of the war in Ukraine.

A soldier from an artillery unit of the 152nd Symon Petliura Jaeger Brigade of the Ukrainian Land Forces installs fuzes during a combat mission in the Pokrovsk direction in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto

The Mesquite plant was opened to help replenish the supply. However, according to DOWIG, it failed to live up to expectations.

“The DoW increased its capability and capacity to produce 155-mm artillery ammunition but did not reach the 2025 National Defense Industrialization Strategy Implementation Plan goal of 100,000 rounds per month by October 2025,” the DOWIG report pointed out.

As of March 2026, “the Army had increased its monthly production from 14,000 to 36,000 rounds because of expansion and modernization efforts at both the projectile...