The U.S. will invest more than $4 billion in the expansion of ammunition manufacturing plants

The U.S. Army has awarded a contract for the design, construction, and commissioning of new facilities at government-owned ammunition plants. The contract has a ceiling of $4.17 billion.

Eleven companies will be involved in carrying out the contract. They will compete for individual orders over a five-year period—through November 2031.

The announcement does not specify whether this program involves the direct supply of ammunition to Ukraine.

What is known about the contract and who will carry it out

This is a fixed-price contract worth $4.171 billion. It calls for the design, construction, and commissioning of facilities at government-owned ammunition plants operated by private companies. The goal is to support the modernization of the U.S. Army’s organic industrial base, as well as the operation and maintenance of the plants. The estimated completion date is November 4, 2031.

The bidding process was conducted online, and the Army received 11 bids. The contract was awarded to all bidders: Clark Construction Group, Burns & McDonnell, Hensel Phelps, Alberici Constructors, Parsons Government Services, M.C. Dean, J Kokolakis Contracting, Bering-Weston JV, Applied Research Associates, as well as BAE Systems Ordnance Systems from Kingsport, Tennessee, and MSM Group North America from St. Petersburg, Florida. The companies will compete for each individual contract.

The locations for the work and the funding will be determined separately for each contract. The contracting agency is the Army Contracting Command in Rock Island, Illinois. The announcement does not specify how much funding has already been committed or which projects will start first.

The contract covers GOCO-format plants: the Army owns the land, buildings, and equipment, while a private contractor manages production. These include the Holston and Radford plants (explosives and propellants), the Iowa plant (artillery ammunition assembly), the Lake City plant (small-arms ammunition), and the Scranton plant (artillery shell casings). The publication also notes that many of these facilities have been in operation since World War II.

The Army announced the competition in May 2026, and the deadline for submitting proposals was July 6. The contract is a MATOC (Master Agreement for Technical Operations and Contracts). This is a pool of pre-qualified contractors with a cap on the total contract amount, among whom the Army competes for individual projects—a process that is typically faster than conducting a full procurement for each facility.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s statement does not mention the supply of ammunition to Ukraine or other countries: the contract pertains to the modernization of production facilities at U.S. factories.

This was reported with reference to the U.S. Department of Defense.

The U.S. has signed a contract worth nearly $60 billion to produce missiles for the Patriot system — Reuters.

The U.S. is preparing for a sharp increase in Tomahawk production.