To rebuild the Arsenal of Democracy we need to build factories and foundries at scale That won’t always go well – ask General Dynamics. ⬇️
Defense One has an in depth read about the ‘cutting edge’ artillery munitions forge in Texas that was built Turkish industrial robots and machine tools. Built at haste as the United States seeks to ramp up 155 mm high explosive round production to 100k per month, this is a bet that hasn’t paid off:
“The situation never improved. The U.S. Army, which funded the factory, ordered work halted on two of its three production lines in August 2025. By then, General Dynamics had blown eight deadlines. Work on the third production line continued, but the facility never produced a single usable shell, according to a report from the Department of Defense’s inspector general in July. The fiasco has cost American taxpayers $533 million, according to the Army.”
The challenge for free world is we have optimised for peacetime procurement of products and services, outsourcing and offshoring the manufacturing and supply chains of even our Defence Industrial base. Now that long and large war has returned in an era of great power competition, we must rebuild the Arsenal of Democracy. That means manufacturing mass – and lots of it. It won’t always be straight forwards and failure will be a feature of a rapid adaption and innovation cycle.
First Breakfast has an excellent substack on how we need to change our mindset on manufacturing. To paraphrase their contribution to the contest of ideas, the Factory is the Weapon in this rearmament race:
“What matters is not simply the advanced platforms, but fielding capabilities that can be sustained, replenished, and adapted in combat. The ability to surge, adapt, and manufacture at scale will increasingly determine military advantage. Achieving that capacity will require harnessing the private sector and commercial manufacturing facilities. We are in the midst of a fundamental realization: the factory is the product.”
Could this be an opportunity for an Ally like Australia to speed our own plans to manufacture munitions? Nioa’s new forging capability for 155mm M795 projectiles will be making munitions that are in constant demand in Ukraine and the US Military. A future GMLRS munitions manufacturing facility has a key part to play noting that US Military recent called for expressions of interest to provide ~140k GMLRS artillery rockets. Rather than just adding to demand, let’s meet our own needs and add to supply.
North Korea has sent Russia over 12 million artillery projectiles, thousands of rockets and hundreds of ballistic missiles to fire at Ukraine. What is this middle power doing to contribute to the Arsenal of Democracy?
Food for thought as always.
📷 via Defense One