Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, in a briefing with reporters Thursday, recalled a recent visit to an Army arsenal in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where workers turn out the casings for 155mm artillery ammunition.
Secretary Wormuth said the Scranton plant output has steadily increased over the past year. It is turning out 20,000 155mm shells a month, up from about 14,000 at the start of the war. The Defense Department is taking the same approach for other U.S. weapons now in the pipeline to Ukraine, including the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank weapon, Ms. Wormuth said.Congress has given the Defense Department authority to sign multi-year procurement contracts with defense contractors, something the industry has long requested.
President Biden agreed to supply Ukraine with 31 M1 Abrams tanks after Germany indicated it wouldn’t provide tanks to the battlefield unless Washington also joined the deal. The Army is now putting together options for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and is also talking to Poland and other allies with M-1 Abrams tanks about possibly transferring them to Ukraine.