READY TO GO: Pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine are loaded on a plane in January 2022 during a foreign military sales mission. (Photo by Senior Airman Stephani Barge, U.S. Air Force)
Producing small caliber ammunition for Ukraine at the speed of war.
by Martin Seiz
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Product Manager Small Caliber Ammunition (PdM SCA), part of Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems (PM MAS) within the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition (JPEO A&A), has enabled the flow of significant product to its partners. Through 37 presidential drawdowns, small caliber ammunition, primarily in 7.62 mm and .50-caliber configurations, has moved from U.S. depots to various foreign access points. Providing this level of support has been a team effort requiring expert competencies across the Army enterprise. Further, the receipt of tranche funds, incremental payments for materiel sent, will be used to bolster our defense capabilities for the future.
A CARTRIDGE FOR EVERY NEED
With a portfolio of approximately 44 distinct cartridge types available in roughly 73 different configurations, PdM SCA offers a cartridge for every user, need or situation. The Ukrainian Armed Forces desired products capable of high rates of fire and armor penetration as the anticipated threat was large formations of troops in various models of unarmored, lightly armored and armored vehicles. With this need in mind, a few products were logical choices, including 7.62 mm cartridges intended for use against personnel and unarmored vehicles, typically fired from both dismounted infantry and vehicle-mounted machine guns. They allow the warfighter to lay down suppressive fire to enable troops to maneuver against the enemy. In addition, .50-caliber cartridges can be fired from both dismounted crew-served weapons as well as vehicle-mounted machine guns.
Lastly, .50-caliber Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP) cartridge linked with SLAP Tracers are employed in scenarios where there is a desired increase in armor-defeating capability over the other cartridge. As the name suggests, these cartridges feature a saboted design to propel a dense, tungsten projectile up to a staggering 4,000 feet per second.
INSPECTION: A worker checks .50-caliber linked rounds in June 2020 at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Missouri. (Photo by Dori Whipple, Joint Munitions Command)
MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK
The staff at the Joint Munitions Command (JMC) at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, orchestrates the transfer of this ammunition to Ukraine. Brian Willis, small caliber division chief at JMC, summarized the process, saying, “JMC is supporting the effort by coordinating optimal sourcing of Ukraine’s requirements, whether through on-hand theater stocks or CONUS [continental U.S.] inventory, and then working expeditiously to execute ammunition shipments in alignment with the mode of transportation, whether vessel or air.” Willis’ expert team includes logisticians for every caliber of ammunition, who then work in tandem with teammates from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (DEVCOM-AC) and PdM SCA. After providing the needed material, the team receives tranche funds—payments tied to each delivery. The team balances this funding with known and emergent defense needs and adjusts future orders from the primary manufacturing site: the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant.
BIRTHPLACE OF SMALL CALIBER AMMUNITION
Lake City is a sprawling U.S. government-owned, contractor-operated facility in Independence, Missouri. Established during World War II, this site produces most national defense munitions ranging from 5.56 mm to 20 mm. Continually modernizing and maintaining a site this size is a constant challenge, but the capability is nothing short of amazing. For military customers, Lake City boasts an average annual production of 600 million cartridges with surge capacity of 1.6 billion cartridges. Depending on defense needs, such as supporting the current conflict in Ukraine, the plant is able to scale up or down accordingly. The current operating contractor, Olin-Winchester, assumed operations in fiscal year 2021 following a one-year transition period.
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WHY A SABOT? A sabot (pronounced “sah-bow”) design allows a narrow projectile to be fired through a larger diameter weapon barrel. Unlike other ammunition products, the projectile sabot is not intended to reach the target. Instead, it serves to support the projectile during firing and separates upon muzzle exit. This design must be employed judiciously because while it increases the kinetic energy delivered on target, it also increases design complexity, opportunities for failure and associated unit price. |
In order to ensure U.S. stockpiles remain robust, select tranche funds are being used to advance small caliber ammunition manufacturing capabilities. This includes reestablishing the dormant SLAP/SLAP Tracer production process at Lake City. John Middleton, DEVCOM-AC technical lead, explained, “SLAP and SLAP Tracer were last made in 2013, under a contract with Olin-Winchester, at their commercial facility in East Alton, Illinois. The USG [U.S. government] is teaming with Olin-Winchester, now operating the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, to stand up [.50-caliber] SLAP manufacturing at Lake City to establish an enduring capability. This effort involves preparing legacy equipment, and relocating equipment from East Alton, in anticipation of this upcoming production.”
SLAP and SLAP Tracer ultimately will impact only a small footprint within Lake City, leveraging existing .50-caliber manufacturing space and equipment, improving manufacturing efficiency, ensuring current safety standards are met, and potentially reducing maintenance costs. The Small Caliber Ammunition team, comprised of experts across the Army enterprise, expects SLAP and SLAP Tracer production to begin in early 2025. Due in part to recent tranche funding, they will continue to provide the U.S. and its foreign partners, like Ukraine, with the capabilities needed to achieve their mission.
For more information, go to https://www.army.mil/article/266311/jmc_ustranscom_partnership_provides_ammo_in_record_time_to_ukraine.
MARTIN SEIZ is small caliber ammunition production lead at Product Manager Small Caliber Ammunition within JPEO A&A at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. He holds an M.E. in engineering management from Stevens Institute of Technology and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University. He possesses Project Management Professional (PMP) and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification and holds the DAWIA Practitioner certification in program management and in engineering and technical management. Seiz is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
