Army bullets in short supply America searches for 2nd firm to make enough ammunition By Edmond Lococo / Bloomberg News EDINA, Minn. - Alliant Techsystems Inc., the U.S. Army's sole supplier of bullets, said it can't keep up with demand that is rising to its highest level since the Vietnam war as the United States fights terrorism and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army is looking for a second ammunitions source, Alliant Chief Executive Daniel Murphy said on an earnings conference call. The service wants 2 billion rounds of bullets and Alliant will make 1.2 billion this year, up from 1 billion last year, he said. Alliant is in talks to expand its Army-owned Lake City facility to produce another 300 million rounds and the Army is seeking a supplier of 500 million more. Demand could be this high for five years, Murphy said. U.S. Army spokesman Major Gary Tallman didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. Alliant is boosting its work force 6 percent to 14,000 this year to handle orders for products including M-16 rifle ammunition. The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is struggling to control rising violence that in April alone killed more U.S. soldiers than during last year's war, which lasted about six weeks. The Army could have difficulty meeting its demand as there are few producers outside of Alliant or General Dynamics Corp. capable of producing military ammunition on the scale required, said Loren Thompson, an analyst at Arlington, Va.-based Lexington Institute, which studies national security issues. “The Army's industrial base is busted,†Thompson said. “A wide range of consumables from ammunition to armor simply can't be produced at an adequate rate during wartime. There is almost no surge capacity.†The Army tries to make up for its lack of surge capacity by stockpiling material before conflicts, Thompson said. The strategy works in conflicts of short duration, but is becoming a problem as the Iraq war enters its second year, he said.
i dont see world peace happening in my lifetime, i think humans in general are violent creatures, myself included
no thats just when they'll unveil the energy weapons they've been developing for the past 20 years really though, what a waste of resources. with as many people there are today, its very possible of running out of certain materials in our lifetime. so basically after America kills everyone else, or itself is destroyed, the ones remaining will have nothing to progress with. maybe thats a good thing. back to isolated villages i say. down with mass media! down with (corporate too) central gov't! pre 1930's please.
ooo, that would be ugly, american army forced to use other weapons than bullets, i guess that means bombing houses instead of going in with infantry? anyways, what happened to world peace: OIL.
I don't expect to see world peace in my lifetime but I do expect to see the end of the American empire, at this rate the country probably won't be a huge power for too much longer. Of course this could be a bad thing, somehow I don't expect the army to go down without a fight.
mmmmm..................What's world peace? Is that like some kind of global peace sign?.... \/ Heh, Yep, humans are violent.... Too bad we all can't just get along. But no, we're greedy. Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
^scary can you imagine staring at a warehouse full of bullets. thinking about all the people they will maime or kill. the smell of metal permeating your nostrils. i would puke.