3” M42 manufacturing

[917601]

 

 

[robinb]

I just watched that a few days ago. The number of steps to make a projectile is amazing. And the constant tolerance checking, just to blow it up in the end. Quite fascinating to watch.

[Persian Gulf Command]

Great!  There are steps in the manufacturing of projectiles I always speculated about and now know.

 

Thank you so much!

[Charlie Flick]

Yep, that was indeed interesting.  It is amazing the number of steps involved in making a single shell.  Also noteworthy was the amount of human handwork that was required.  This film was made in 1939.  You can bet that production methods were further streamlined during WW2 to increase production.  Modern artillery shell making is mostly fully automated with humans supervising computerized machines rather than lifting, gauging, painting, etc. 

 

I was thinking about this very subject recently.  I have read about the shortages of 155mm artillery ammunition caused by the enormous appetite for them in Ukraine.  One of the senior US officials, in speaking about efforts to ramp up production, said that additional production domestically would take up to 2 years before new shells became available above current production rates.   That is astounding to me.  In WW2 new Ordnance production plants were getting set up and into production in less than a year.  Times are different now, of courses, but taking that long for new production seems crazy.   Heck, if the US got into a hot war it might be over before that 2 year estimate on new production came into play.  Yikes.

 

Charlie