According to a report by CBS on July 14th, a surveillance report by the U.S. Department of Defense revealed that a cannon factory built by the U.S. with an investment of $469 million failed to produce any of the 155mm key artillery shells that the U.S. urgently needed within two years after its construction.
In May 2024, General Dynamics Armaments & Tactical Systems Corporation (GDOTS) opened this factory in Mesquite, Texas, as part of a government contract to replenish the U.S. ammunition inventory sent to Ukraine.
However, a report released by the Pentagon Inspector General on Monday indicates that as of March 2026, the factory failed to produce any metal bullet components that met the contractual specifications. This poses a risk to the United States’ ability to meet its target of producing 155-millimeter shells. The nearly $500 million spent on this project “could have been used to address other priorities of the Army or the Department of Defense.”
The report states that over the past four years, the Pentagon has used up a stockpile of 3.6 million 155-millimeter shells. Of these, more than 3 million shells were sent to Ukraine through the weapons assistance program promised by the previous Biden administration. Approximately 112,000 shells were used for training and testing, while another 218,000 shells were sold to other countries. The report does not specify how many more shells remain in the stockpile.
Based on consumption levels in Ukraine and expected military sales abroad, the U.S. Army set a goal for 2024 to increase the monthly production of 155mm shells from 14,000 units to 100,000 units by October 2025. Due to ammunition shortages, the U.S. Army invested in the construction of a factory in Mescuit, Texas, to assist in the production of certain components. GDOTS was selected to operate this factory.
However, the report shows that as of March 2026, the U.S. Army’s monthly production of 155mm shells was approximately 36,000 units. This still falls far short of the target of 100,000 units per month. Part of the reason for this is that the Mesquite factory failed to produce the expected 30,000 metal components needed for each shell.
An American Army spokesperson confirmed this story with CBS. A statement from GDOTS said, “The company has reached an agreement with our American Army client regarding the future development of the Mesquite plant. This includes additional investments by GDOTS to complete the project.”
Officials involved in the Army ammunition project further revealed that since only three factories produce the necessary metal components for ammunition bodies, by September 2026, the monthly production of 155-millimeter shells from the Pentagon would only reach 71,000 rounds, which is only 71% of the monthly production target.
The report concludes that the reason for this gap is that Army officials “accepted risks” by allowing contractors to purchase untested equipment. According to the timeline in the report, the Army Contract Office required the factory to cease operations in August 2025, so that the government could assess whether the factory could fulfill its contractual obligations and work to resolve production issues.
The New York Post noted that the report was released at a time when concerns about the United States' arms inventory having reached dangerously low levels continued to grow. The United States is currently embroiled in wars against Iran, while Israel is engaged in fierce battles with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Russia-Uкраїna conflict also continues, and all three conflicts rely on ammunition manufactured by the United States.
A report by the Washington think tank CSIS in April stated that the United States may have exhausted more than half of its pre-war ammunition stockpiles in the Middle East. The stocks of Tomahawk cruise missiles, Patriot missiles, and Thaad interceptor missiles are all in critical condition. The report warned that even though U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis have urged defense contractors to speed up production, it could take one to four years to replenish the U.S. military’s ammunition stockpiles.
