On March 5, the U.S. Army awarded Winchester a contract for the construction of the Next Generation Squad Weapon Ammunition (NGSW-A) manufacturing facility at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP). Construction will begin in the next few months, and when complete, the site will be the first new manufacturing facility built on the 3,935-acre LCAAP site—in Independence, Mo.—in decades.
“A dedicated team of Winchester experts have been working on this project in collaboration with the U.S. Government and other industry stakeholders to design a state-of-the-art, small-caliber ammunition manufacturing facility,” said Brett Flaugher, president of Winchester Ammunition. “This new facility will ultimately employ hundreds and utilize innovative and transformational small-caliber ammunition manufacturing and safety processes.”
This contract is a key part in modernization activities at LCAAP, a key government-owned, contractor-operated Army ammunition plant established in 1940. The new production building and process support systems—developed by Winchester under a 2022 contract with the U.S. Army—are designed to accommodate best-practice manufacturing methodologies, processes and equipment that provide flexible, sustainable and maintainable operations and ensure manufacturing readiness to meet future requirements.
“This award is a clear demonstration of industry-partner commitment to providing our joint warfighters the advanced munitions they need to fight and win the nation’s wars and safeguard our national security interests,” said Maj. Gen. John T. Reim, Joint Program Executive Officer Armaments and Ammunition. “This facility’s advanced manufacturing capabilities and production capacity will also serve as deterrence against adversaries.”
Winchester continues to partner with the U.S. Army to bring transformational technology and capabilities to LCAAP. The NGSW-A manufacturing facility award comes on the heels of the recent award from the U.S. Army to stand up manufacturing capabilities for .50 Caliber Saboted Light Armor Penetrator, which will be ready for production in 2024.
The new production building will house modern manufacturing systems designed to produce all aspects of the NGSW ammunition. Metal parts manufacturing will be done there, as well as energetic operations for loading and charging ammunition, product packaging, process quality controls, testing laboratories, maintenance operations and general-use administrative areas.
Winchester is the largest supplier of small-arms ammunition to the U.S. military, providing advanced small-caliber capabilities to the American Warfighter with manufacturing and engineering expertise. The Winchester legacy in support of the U.S. military runs deep, dating back to the early 1900s.
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