Texas munitions plant failed to produce needed parts, driving shortfall: Petagon watchdog report

An ammunition plant in Mesquite, Texas, has not produced any parts for the 155mm artillery rounds, which has impeded the Army's ability to backfill stocks of ammunition that were provided to Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion, a Pentagon inspector general report found. 

Since 2022, the Pentagon depleted its inventory of 155mm artillery rounds by 3.6 million rounds, of which 3 million were given to Ukraine through commitments made by the Biden administration. In 2024, the Army set a goal to ramp up production of the rounds from 14,000 per month to 100,000 per month by Oct. 2025. 

To meet that goal, the Army invested $469 million in the Mesquite plant in Texas to produce metal projectile parts that met specifications defined in its contract. 

The Army managed to hit 36,000 rounds produced per month, but failed to come close to the 100,000 it had planned, and the failure of the Texas plant to produce any of the 30,000 parts it was expected to produce is the reason, the inspector general found. 

An Army spokesperson told CBS News that as of this month, the problem with the Texas plant persists. A statement from the company said that it had reached an agreement with its Army customers on a path forward for the Mesquite facility, which includes further investment from the company to fulfill the contract.