According to US media reports, on April 15 and 17, two large military factories in the United States and Britain caught fire and exploded one after another, which caused the West's already insufficient artillery shell production capacity to be seriously affected, and the key was that the United States suffered a setback in its war against China. At the same time, the United States threatened China with increased sanctions against China.
The US and British military factories exploded one after another, and the supply of artillery shells was affected
On April 15, according to US media reports, a fire and suspected explosion occurred at the US Army factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA, which attracted wide attention from domestic and foreign media. Judging from the pictures disclosed by the US media, the scale of the fire is not small, and it may affect the production work of the factory.
A fire broke out at a U.S. Army factory in Scranton with a suspected explosion
The importance of the Scranton military factory to the United States, Ukraine, and Israel is significant, because this large military factory is the only factory in the United States that can produce 155mm howitzer shells in large quantities, and it is also the largest military factory in the United States that produces 155mm artillery shells.
The current monthly production of artillery shells in the United States can barely reach 2.8-35,000 rounds, and this Scranton military factory can produce 20,000 rounds of artillery shells per month, which is of self-evident importance.
155mm howitzer shells, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict once again proved the status of artillery as the "god of war".
According to US media reports, the shells produced by this plant are mainly delivered to the US Army, Ukraine and Israel. At present, the entire Western world is facing an embarrassing situation of "cannonball shortage", and the monthly output is far from meeting the demand.
BAE Military Factory
The embarrassing thing is that only two days after the fire accident in the US arsenal, an explosion accident also occurred in an arsenal producing 155mm shells in the United Kingdom, according to British media reports, an explosion occurred at the BAE military factory in South Wales, England, and the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service jointly launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion.
Workshop for the production of 155mm shells at the BAE military plant
BAE said that all personnel had been evacuated and that emergency teams would continue to monitor the situation on the ground, after the military factory also planned to increase the production of 155mm shells eightfold and increase its own reserves and the amount of foreign aid to Ukraine, as a result of which the entire production of the bombing had to be stopped.
The supply of its own 155mm artillery shells by the US military is also seriously insufficient
Previously, according to US media reports, on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, the West supplied a large number of 155mm howitzers and 155mm shells to the Ukrainian army, and Ukraine is almost exhausted now, the Russian army shoots an average of 2-40,000 shells per day, and the Ukrainian army can only shoot back a few thousand, and the artillery firepower is seriously insufficient.
In order to meet the needs of Ukraine, the United States had to loot the world's stocks of similar artillery shells, but it was still a drop in the bucket, and what made the United States even more headache was that because of the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Israel also needed American 155mm artillery shells, and the United States had to "tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall" and transfer the artillery shells that were originally intended to aid Ukraine to Israel.
Interestingly, some right-wing media have blamed Russia for these two accidents, claiming that they were Russian sabotage, but they have not presented any evidence, which is purely subjective assumption and malicious rumors.
It can be said that the security problems of the two military factories in Britain and the United States are not prone to loopholes, and the cause of the explosion is more likely to be due to the overload of artillery shells in the factory, which led to the accident.
US press: The US military does not have enough ammunition to fight the PLA now
The US media complained that because of the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine and Israel, the US military's own artillery stock is completely insufficient, and this time there have been accidents in the US and British arsenals one after another, and it can be said that this situation will seriously affect the ammunition reserves against China in the future.
At present, the US military simply does not have the ability to engage in a high-intensity conflict with China, and the ammunition problem can put the US military in big trouble; according to the results of the US military's push, if an armed conflict breaks out between the US military and the PLA in the Asia-Pacific region, the US military's ammunition will be exhausted after eight days of fighting to the death.
In addition to ammunition, the US military's cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles are also seriously insufficient, and they can only fight one round, and once they run out, they cannot completely replenish the ammunition consumed, and the United States' "anti-China combat readiness" has suffered a serious setback.
Under the wave of deindustrialization, the production capacity of artillery shells in the United States has been seriously weakened
Of course, there may be some netizens who can't believe it, why is the production capacity of artillery shells in the West so stretched? Isn't it just a matter of building a few more shell factories? However, under the general wave of "deindustrialization" in Europe and the United States in recent years, especially for their military industrial enterprises, it is easiest to "cheat funds" by engaging in concept development and playing with high-end equipment.
But if you are engaged in basic armament such as artillery shells, the profit margin is not high due to the cost of raw materials and more labor costs. Coupled with the large-scale reduction of armaments and supporting industries in Western countries after the end of the Cold War, Western countries have led to problems in the supply of ammunition to the West.
At present, it is basically impossible to build a new ammunition factory in a short period of time, and it needs professional processing equipment and upstream and downstream industries, such as a metallurgical plant that provides artillery steel for artillery shells, a chemical plant that provides high-energy charges for artillery shells, and professional and technical personnel are also needed.
It can't be done in a short period of time, so it is easy to build a new factory verbally, but where to find the corresponding technical talents, the corresponding upstream and downstream industrial chains, and the corresponding production equipment?
The Russian army has an absolute superiority in artillery, and the current consumption of artillery shells on the battlefield has exceeded 10 million rounds
In stark contrast, Russia has previously purchased 11 million rounds of 122/152mm artillery shells and 3 million rounds of rockets from North Korea at one time, and the purchase of artillery shells and ammunition from North Korea is 26 times the annual production capacity of the US military.
As for China, as the most powerful industrial country in human history, the mainland's monthly output of artillery shells can easily reach dozens of times that of the entire Western bloc, and it is even more difficult for the United States to match.
The most embarrassing thing is the Ukrainian artillery, the industry was destroyed and could only rely on foreign aid
Ukraine's defeat is decided, and the United States uses the excuse to sanction China
It can be said that this accident at the US and British military factories may cause a cascading effect, and for Ukraine, the situation on the battlefield has worsened, and now there is a large shortage of artillery and shells.
Even the commander of the US European Command, Admiral Cavalli, had to say that the Russian army has a 10-fold artillery advantage over the Ukrainian army, and the situation is extremely serious. Now the biggest killer on the battlefield is artillery, and if Ukraine runs out of artillery shells, they will also run out.
What's even more bizarre is that the United States, seeing that Ukraine is being frustrated on the battlefield, has begun to attack China, and U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said that the United States is ready to take "further measures" against a number of Chinese companies suspected of supporting the Russian military industry.
Now that the situation of the Russian-Ukrainian war has become completely clear, no matter what excuse the United States makes, it will not be able to avoid Ukraine's "defeat" on the battlefield.
Some of the sources in the article: 1. A fire broke out at a US Army factory: black smoke was sprayed at the scene The plant produces artillery shells for Ukraine Xinhuanet