2026年7月14日 / 美国东部时间上午11:28 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
美国国防部监督机构的一份报告显示，位于得克萨斯州梅斯基特的一座弹药厂自建成以来约两年时间里，未生产出任何用于155毫米炮弹的零部件，这阻碍了美国陆军填补2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后援乌弹药库存的目标。
在周一发布的报告中，国防部监察长发现，截至2026年3月，该厂未生产出任何符合合同规定规格的金属弹体零部件，且“陆军为建设这座梅斯基特工厂投入的4.69亿美元本可用于解决陆军或国防部的其他优先事项”。
报告显示，过去四年间，五角大楼的155毫米火炮弹药库存已减少360万发。报告未提及当前库存弹药的具体数量。
拜登政府通过武器援助计划向乌克兰提供了超过300万发此类弹药，另有约11.2万发用于训练和测试，还有21.8万发销往其他国家。
基于乌克兰战场的弹药消耗速度和预期的对外军售需求，美国陆军在2024年设定目标，要将155毫米火炮弹药的月产量从1.4万发提升至2025年10月前的10万发，并投资建设得克萨斯州梅斯基特的工厂以生产特定零部件。
这座由通用动力军械与战术系统公司运营的工厂于2024年5月投产。
报告称，截至2026年3月，美国陆军的月产量约为3.6万发，仍远低于10万发的目标，部分原因正是梅斯基特工厂未能实现每月生产3万件弹体金属零部件的预期产能。
一名陆军发言人向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻证实，截至本月，这一情况仍未改变。
通用动力军械与战术系统公司的发言人在一份声明中表示：“通用动力军械与战术系统公司与我们的美国陆军客户已就梅斯基特工厂的后续发展路径达成协议，其中包括通用动力追加投资以完成该项目。”
报告指出，参与陆军弹药项目的官员表示，目前仅有三家工厂能够生产所需的弹体金属零部件，五角大楼到2026年9月的月产量仅能达到7.1万发，仅为月度产能目标的71%。
报告总结称，这一产能缺口的出现是因为陆军官员“承担了风险”，接受了承包商采购未经测试设备的方案。根据报告中的时间线，美国陆军合同办公室在2025年8月要求工厂暂停施工，以便政府评估其是否能够履行义务并着手解决生产问题。
由于乌克兰战场调整了作战方式，如今更依赖无人机作战而非几年前的堑壕战，对火炮弹药的需求已有所下降。尽管如此，初期的弹药消耗速度仍暴露了国防工业基地快速生产武器的能力短板。
近期，外界开始担忧在与伊朗的冲突中使用的更为昂贵且技术先进的武器，例如“爱国者”防空系统的拦截弹和“战斧”巡航导弹。五角大楼今年在预算中申请了超过700亿美元用于采购导弹及相关装备，较去年增长近两倍。
Defense watchdog finds new 155mm artillery plant failed to produce parts in 2 years since it was built, hindering production goals
July 14, 2026 / 11:28 AM EDT / CBS News
A Pentagon watchdog report found that in the roughly two years since it was built, an ammunition plant in Mesquite, Texas, has not produced any parts for 155mm artillery rounds, hindering the Army’s goal to help backfill stocks of ammunition provided to Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022.
In a report released Monday, the Defense Department inspector general found that as of March 2026, the plant had not produced any metal projectile parts that met the specifications laid out in the contract and the “the Army’s expenditure of $469 million to establish the Mesquite facility could have been used to address other Army or [Department of Defense] priorities.”
Over the past four years, the Pentagon depleted its inventory of 155mm artillery by 3.6 million rounds, according to the report. The report does not note how many rounds are in the stockpile.
More than 3 million rounds were given to Ukraine through weapons packages committed by the Biden administration. Roughly 112,000 rounds were used for training and testing, and another 218,000 were sold to other countries.
Based on the consumption in Ukraine and anticipated foreign military sales, the Army in 2024 set a goal to ramp up production of 155mm artillery from 14,000 rounds per month to 100,000 by Oct. 2025 and invested in the Mesquite plant in Texas to help produce specific parts.
That plant, which is operated by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, opened in May 2024.
As of March 2026, the Army was producing about 36,000 rounds per month, still far short of the 100,000 goal, in part because the facility in Mesquite failed to produce any of the 30,000 projectile metal parts it was expected to make each month, according to the report.
An Army spokesperson confirmed to CBS News this is still accurate as of this month.
In a statement, a spokesperson for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems said “GDOTS and our U.S. Army customers have reached an agreement on a path forward for the Mesquite facility, which includes additional GDOTS investment to complete the project.”
According to the report, officials involved with the Army’s ammunition program said that with only three facilities producing the required projectile metal parts, the Pentagon will “reach only 71,000 rounds per month, or 71 percent of its monthly production capacity goal” by September 2026.
The gap, the report concluded, occurred because Army officials “accepted the risk” with the contractor’s plan to procure equipment which had not been tested. According to a timeline in the report, the Army contracting office requested the plant stop work in Aug. 2025 while the government evaluated if it could meet its obligations and work to resolve the production issues.
The demand for artillery has diminished somewhat, since the war in Ukraine has altered its approach and is now more reliant on drone warfare, rather than the trench fighting of a few years ago. Still, the initial expenditure rate highlighted issues with the defense industrial base’s ability to produce weapons quickly.
Recently, there have been concerns about the more expensive and technologically advanced weapons, like interceptors for Patriot air defense systems and Tomahawk missiles, that have been used in the war with Iran. The Pentagon this year asked for more than $70 billion in its budget to help procure missiles and related equipment, a nearly three-fold increase compared to last year.