WASHINGTON – The U.S. military has assembled the most sophisticated fighting arsenal in the world, with satellite-guided weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles that shoot Hellfire missiles.
But as billions of dollars have poured into the technology for futuristic warfare, the government has fallen behind on more mundane needs – such as bullets.
The protracted conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and heightened combat training with live ammunition have left the military short of small-caliber bullets. To offset the squeeze, the Army is taking unusual stopgap measures such as buying ammunition from Britain and Israel. It is also scrambling to increase domestic production.
“The big, complex programs don’t do any good if there aren’t bullets for the rifles,” said Marcus Corbin, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information, a D.C.-based research group.
Shortages in basic battlefield gear struck soon after the start of the Iraq war when combat forces outfitted in high-tech uniforms faced a shortage of body armor and armored Humvees. The tight supplies of bullets reflect a shutdown of factories in recent years and the unexpected level of insurgency in Iraq, industry analysts said. Only one U.S. plant still produces small-caliber bullets for the military, sharply limiting the Army’s options.
The Army estimates that it will need 1.5 billion rounds of small ammunition this year for M16s and rifles, triple the amount produced in 2001. The lone U.S. military supplier, the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, a government-owned facility run by Alliant Techsystems Inc., will manufacture 1.2 billion rounds this year.
“To fill that gap, we had to do some things rather quickly,” said Brig. Gen. Paul Izzo, the Army’s program executive officer for ammunition.
The military has a 1 billion-round stockpile, but resists dipping into it except for extraordinary emergencies. “We have a good-sized stockpile” that we keep as “our trump card,” Izzo said.
Alliant aims to boost production to 1.5 billion rounds a year but isn’t expected to reach that target for another year. In the meantime, the Army has turned to alternate suppliers. In June, it bought about 130 million rounds from Britain’s stockpile. In December, it awarded contracts to Israeli Military Industries Ltd., based in Ramat Hasharon, and Winchester Ammunition, a unit of Connecticut-based Olin Corp., to produce 70 million rounds each of 5.56mm and 7.62mm ammunition.
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