General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (OTS), a business unit of General Dynamics, announced today it was awarded a $218 million initial task order for 155mm M1128 Load, Assemble, and Pack (LAP). The task order, awarded under a $974 million multiyear firm-fixed-price U.S. Army contract awarded to OTS and another company, includes funding for M1128 facilitization and production at OTS’s operations in Camden, Arkansas. OTS was awarded a similar contract in February 2023 for M795 LAP facilitization of 20,000 rounds per month. Combined, the two awards support 50,000 rounds per month of new LAP capacity by 2025. This contract will fund the installation of a LAP facility using modernized processes and air-cooling technology to improve the quality and efficiency of the 155mm artillery LAP process, while leveraging more environmentally responsible methods to reduce hazardous waste.
“We are proud to be expanding our role as a key industrial partner for the U.S. Army, as it plans and manages efforts to increase and accelerate U.S. artillery production,” said Kevin Fahey, senior vice president and general manager.
The M1128 “Insensitive Munition High Explosive Base Burn Projectile” is a 155 mm boosted artillery round designed to achieve a maximum range of 30–40 km. It is used for fragmentation and blast effect against personnel and/or materiel. The development of this round follows testing of (and is based on aspects of) boosted M795-series test projectiles. The M1128 follows production and test articles from the boosted M795-series rounds—specifically the M795E1 and M795E2. The M795 155 mm projectile is the US Army and US Marine Corps’ standard 155 mm High Explosive (HE) projectile for howitzers. The M795 is designed to be more lethal and have a longer range than that of the M107. A welded band replaces the swaged rotating band of the M107, allowing the M795 to be fired with M119 or M203 propelling charges, increasing range by 6,000 metres (6.0 km; 3.7 mi).
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems is a global leader in the design, engineering and production of munitions, energetics, weapons, armaments, and missile subsystems around the world. General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems, and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $39.4 billion in revenue in 2022.
