Quote:
Originally Posted by .45cultist
All those rounds are at a fraction of capacity, Lake city at full capacity would equal out to 4-5 times the U.S. civilian ammo makers.
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At full capacity, yes, but during the Twilight WarLake City wouldn't be able to reach full capacity. They'd have to take machines out of mothballs and hire and train new workers to expand production.
Before 9/11, total small arms ammunition consumption for the military was on the order of 350 million rounds per year. It went up to 1.1 billion rounds immediately after 9/11, which caused shortages because Lake City needed time to expand; as late as 2004 it produced 1 billion rounds per year. It took three years during a time when there weren't direct attacks to add 650 million rounds/year of capacity; this is probably close to the best performance that can be expected for a TW-era expansion.
At the point when they were producing 1.2 billion rounds per year in late 2005, they were using 70% of the floor space of the plant. It also required them to go from 650 employees at 350 million/year to 1,950 employees at 1.2 billion/year. Extrapolating out, they'd have a maximum capacity of around 1.7 billion/year, and would need around 2,600-2,700 employees to manage that production level. They'd also need no disruptions at their 1,800 suppliers (some of which had trouble with the real-world ramp-up). That rate of production would require three shifts per day, seven days per week, with minimal maintenance downtime on some very old machines.
Given the time frame of the Twilight War, you're looking at the pre-9/11 plant with a maximum output of 350 million rounds per year, with the next available equipment being machines mothballed since the Vietnam War, and with only 650 trained employees. Ramping up in wartime is going to be hard, particularly since there will be problems with primer supply. It requires 13 chemicals to make military primer, 10 of which are imported from Europe, China, Brazil, India, Canada, and Mexico.
To sum up, yes, Lake City has large capacity, but the logistics will be the problem. Particularly with the timing of the Twilight War, its workforce isn't large enough to expand production rapidly, much of its machinery is stored, and supply chain problems will cause a rapid decline in production capacity.