Army official ‘not happy’ with GD-OTS’s handling of 155mm contract as production lags

WASHINGTON — The Army’s acquisition czar told Congress he is less than pleased with how General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) is managing the Army’s 155mm artillery projectiles production plants in Mesquite, Texas. 

“First, let me start by saying I’m not happy with where we are at Mesquite either, right? So I’m in the same boat you are,” Brent Ingraham, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Sustainment, and Technology, told lawmakers Tuesday. 

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the heavy use of artillery there, the Army rushed to bolster 155mm production and produce 100,000 shells per month. As a result, in 2024 it opened a new government-owned facility in Mesquite, tapping GD-OTS to operate it and stand up three Universal Artillery Projectile Lines to produce the metal parts for artillery projectiles, including the shell casings. 

But the lines still aren’t fully operational, resulting in not one shell being made from the Army’s agreement with GD-OTS, according to Chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Rep. Rob Wittman.  

“Here we are now, two years later, and the facility has yet to produce a single projectile for 155, or any other artillery for that matter,” the Virginia representative said. “That puts us in a situation today to ask, ‘Where are we going with that facility?’”

A spokesperson for GD-OTS previously declined to comment on the Mesquite facility, and did not immediately respond today to Breaking Defense’s request for comment on the hearing.

Without GD-OTS’s help to produce more shells, the Army is only able to manufacture 56,000 shells per month at this time, Ingraham said. As Breaking Defense previously reported, the Army was considering scrapping GD-OTS’s contract to manage the production lines in Mesquite, but Ingraham said the service ultimately did not go through with it. The Army is still in negotiations with the company, he said.

“I anticipate you will see an investment from the company themselves, from the industry partner themselves, to ensure they can continue to build out that facility that would make rounds that would primarily be supported by the [foreign military sales],” Ingraham said. “But we are currently in negotiation [on] what that looks like, both from a line perspective, a quantity perspective, and hopefully we’ll have that wrapped up soon.” 

RELATED: Army ‘considering terminating’ General Dynamics’ oversight of new 155mm production lines

When asked how close the Army and GD-OTS are to reaching the 100,000 shells-per-month goal, Maj. Gen. John Reim, the Program Acquisition Executive for Armaments and Ammunition, told lawmakers that in terms of delivery he doesn’t “think we’re that close,” but in terms of a plan to “re-scope” Mesquite, he said he thinks “we’ll see that here very quickly.” 

Wittman urged the service officials to not be shy about cancelling the contract with GD-OTS if it continues to struggle. 

“If you’re going to fail, fail quickly. Make sure you take away lessons from that. Make sure we recover as much of the resources that we’ve expended there. Make sure, too, that we have partners that are willing to share in the risk,” he said. 

“I think that’s key with this Mesquite facility. And listen, I understand folks not wanting to say, ‘Oh, that was a failure,’ but I want to make sure that if there’s not a clear and quick path to recovering there, that we’re not afraid to say, ‘Hey, sorry, we’re going to move on. We learned something from that. We spent some money. But let’s move on to the next stop in that effort.’”