Bang!
Posted on 05/28/2004 10:51:12 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, May 28 - With the United States fighting protracted wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, its military faces a shortage of a basic necessity: ammunition.
The Army Field Support Command in Rock Island, Ill., held an "industry day'' last week to inform contractors of a vast increase in demand for small-caliber rounds, those for rifles and machine guns.
Maj. Gary Tallman, an Army spokesman, said the armed services needed 300 million to 500 million rounds this year alone, beyond the 1.2 billion already being produced, to provide enough for a military whose active-duty force had increased because of the two wars.
All production currently comes from a factory in Lake City, Mo., that is owned by the Army and managed by Alliant Techsystems, the nation's largest provider of munitions to the military. Alliant says it can expand that production, but it is not sure by how much.
In the meantime, the Army has already arranged for two contractors - Winchester, a division of the Olin Corporation, and the state-owned Israel Military Industries Ltd. - to provide an additional supply this year.
Further, in response to the Army's search for a "systems integrator'' - a general contractor - to supplement its work, at least one military contractor, the General Dynamics Corporation, has proposed overseeing a consortium of small-caliber-ammunition producers to fit the service's needs. A formal request for bids from prospective general contractors is expected in August.
Major Tallman, the Army spokesman, said the need for more ammunition had not affected troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan but instead stemmed primarily from an increase in necessary training.
But Loren B. Thompson, a military analyst with the Lexington Institute, a policy research center in Arlington, Va., said the shortage was due not just to training.
"The Army is reaching the outer limits of its ability to sustain the Iraqi operation," Mr. Thompson said. "It simply can't sustain a large-scale protracted conflict."
Mr. Thompson said that while combat troops were not currently affected by the ammunition shortage, "there could be serious shortfalls" should a conflict arise on the Korean Peninsula, for example.
Dan Carlson of the Army Field Support Command said the military ran no risk of being depleted. "We're not going to let anybody run out of ammunition," he said.
It seems to agree with Shooter's earlier post, IIRC.
And that's why you can't find any lake city at the gun shows anymore. Oh well, my AR spits out the Wolf crap no problem. Thank you Rock River.
The Army had better get a Dillon Progressive Press. Cure this shortage quick..
This is somewhat remarkable when you think both Iraq and Afghanistan are relatively low level insurgencies. They must be burning it up with automatic, suppressive fire. I doubt that they are extravagant in marksmanship training.
Wait til the draft starts!
Ammoman.com says they have 9 million rds in stock...perhaps the army could do bulk buy backs in a pinch. I have 500 rds in my closet.
Yo, Travis! Have a good weekend, pally..............FRegards
You too! Gettin out on the boat this weekend??
Since relying on re-supply was dubious, that became my basic load. Maybe a putzhead from NY would say you should be licensed.
"The Army is reaching the outer limits of its ability to sustain the Iraqi operation," Mr. Thompson said. "It simply can't sustain a large-scale protracted conflict."Wow. It's a good thing we didn't have to fight in WWII. Just think of how many bullets we would have needed then.
Or think if we'd had to fight a major war on the Korean penninsula against the Red Chinese Army. Good thing we never had to do that. That would have strained our ammo supplies to the max.
Or just imagine if we'd fought for 10 years in Vietnam, with 500,000 troops engaged. That would have required some ammo, wouldn't it?
Lucky for us that the largest-scale protracted conflict we've ever been in is placing these 100+ thousand soldiers in Iraq.
Any larger operation than that and we surely wouldn't have been up to the task.
I agree with your (sarcastic) assessment - the article is full of @@it.
So maybe there's a reason after all to have manufacturing facilities *in the US.* Or is someone thinking hard and furiously how to outsource this to China or India as well?
I'd bet, if needed the Freepers could donate a few weeks worth.
In a way, I'm cheered by this news because those munitions are being used up on well-deserving muslims.
I'll be on it, but probably still takin' it apart. Got one engine on the dock, then TommyJo borrowed the chain-hoist to work on the engine for his boat. Gotta pull both engines so I can put in new bilge pumps and fix the steering.
My schedule is ----- Whenever! Stay well, pal.............Barry/gonzo
Is the NYTimes ignorant or is it trying to be clever?
We've got one war, FRiends - the War on Terror.
It is being fought on many fronts (not just Iraq and Afganistan) and in many theaters (not just the Middle East).
I knda agree with the FReeper yesterday who volunteered to donate some of his(or her) ammo if he(or she) could be the one to shoot it at the enemy.
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