Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
Although no baseline starting point is given, the data below could give us a better sense of how long it might take to mobilize the USA's industry to a total war footing. The quotes are from this 3/30/23 War Zone article.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...top-us-general
"The U.S., meanwhile, will double monthly production of 155mm artillery shells to 24,000 by year’s end and increase it sixfold within five years, Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo said Tuesday, according to Defense One.
Production of Javelin missiles will more than double to 330 a month, and production of launchers will double to 41 a month, Camarillo said, according to Defense One. It will cost $349 million to add factory lines, purchase equipment, and hire second shifts, he said. The Army is also upping monthly GMLRS production from 566 missiles to 1,110 by 2026, Camarillo said."
If it takes at least 8 months to double 155mm ammunition production, imagine how long it would take to double the production of more complex ammunition types (e.g. TOW II ATGMs)!
Granted, in the T2k continua, the USA would be starting at a more advanced baseline start point, because post-Cold War drawdowns wouldn't have occurred, and production probably would have already increased somewhat to supply the PRC after the Soviet invasion.
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Well, I think the T2K timeline, the US military was less dependent on foreign sourced components. We've had a good 35 years outsourcing global and domestic industrial production to China since T2K was authored.
Additionally, the US military-industrial complex was simply just better prepared for war. Production assemblies weren't sitting idle or mostly idle like they are now.
Furthermore, there's lots of ways to increase production that probably aren't happening domestically right now. Run multiple shifts, loosen QC standards, re-purpose other factories / plants, break ground on new facilities, etc.
Lead time for clean rooms probably makes breaking new ground dubious for electronics, but a lathe is a lathe. If ISIS can churn out thousands of mortar bombs a month in backyard factories using cast scrap iron, lathes, and shotgun shells for primers, I bet the US could probably do better than going from 12,000 155mm shells a month to 24,000 if we were sufficiently motivated. At least, I think we could have in 1995.
We've gotten awfully inefficient at building things these days though.