Defense watchdog finds new 155mm artillery plant failed to produce parts in 2 years since it was built, hindering production goals

A Pentagon watchdog report found that in the roughly two years since it was built, an ammunition plant in Mesquite, Texas, has not produced any parts for 155mm artillery rounds, hindering the Army’s goal to help backfill stocks of ammunition provided to Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. 

In a report released Monday, the Defense Department inspector general found that as of March 2026, the plant had not produced any metal projectile parts that met the specifications laid out in the contract and the “the Army’s expenditure of $469 million to establish the Mesquite facility could have been used to address other Army or [Department of Defense] priorities.” 

Over the past four years, the Pentagon depleted its inventory of 155mm artillery by 3.6 million rounds, according to the report. The report does not note how many rounds are in the stockpile. 

More than 3 million rounds were given to Ukraine through weapons packages committed by the Biden administration. Roughly 112,000 rounds were used for training and testing, and another 218,000 were sold to other countries. 

Based on the consumption in Ukraine and anticipated foreign military sales, the Army in 2024 set a goal to ramp up production of 155mm artillery from 14,000 rounds per month to 100,000 by Oct. 2025 and invested in the Mesquite plant in Texas to help produce specific parts. 

That plant, which is operated by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, opened in May 2024. 

As of March 2026, the Army was producing about 36,000 rounds per month, still far short of the 100,000 goal, in part because the facility in Mesquite failed to produce any of the 30,000 projectile metal parts it was expected to make each month, according to the report. 

An Army spokesperson confirmed to CBS News this is still accurate as of this month.

In a statement, a spokesperson for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems said “GDOTS and our U.S. Army customers have reached an agreement on a path forward for the Mesquite facility, which includes additional GDOTS investment to complete the project.” 

According to the report, officials involved with the Army’s ammunition program said that with only three facilities producing the required projectile metal parts, the Pentagon will “reach only 71,000 rounds per month, or 71 percent of its monthly production capacity goal” by September 2026. 

The gap, the report concluded, occurred because Army officials “accepted the risk” with the contractor’s plan to procure equipment which had not been tested. According to a timeline in the report, the Army contracting office requested the plant stop work in Aug. 2025 while the government evaluated if it could meet its obligations and work to resolve the production issues. 

The demand for artillery has diminished somewhat, since the war in Ukraine has altered its approach and is now more reliant on drone warfare, rather than the trench fighting of a few years ago. Still, the initial expenditure rate highlighted issues with the defense industrial base’s ability to produce weapons quickly. 

Recently, there have been concerns about the more expensive and technologically advanced weapons, like interceptors for Patriot air defense systems and Tomahawk missiles, that have been used in the war with Iran. The Pentagon this year asked for more than $70 billion in its budget to help procure missiles and related equipment, a nearly three-fold increase compared to last year.