Photo By John Snyder | Watervliet Arsenal Machinist Steve Luther is preparing a 81 mm mortar tube for its...... read more read more
WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (June 17 2016) -- The arsenal announced today that it has received from the United States Marine Corps $8.2 million in new contracts to manufacture nearly 400, 81 mm mortar barrels and associated parts.
"These are the largest orders awarded to the arsenal this month and certainly the largest contracts from the Marine Corps in several years, said Laura Pisculli, the arsenal's supervisor for production control. "In fact, June has been a great month for the arsenal as we have received other contracts from the U.S. Army and from foreign allied militaries that have totaled more than $2.8 million in new, unforecasted work."
These mortar orders will add to the arsenal's current workload nearly 15,000 hours of direct labor, as well as several hundred hours of indirect labor, Pisculli said.
Unlike the long lead time required to procure raw-stock steel for large cannon systems, the arsenal will start manufacturing the barrels and parts later this year and the first shipment is scheduled to leave the arsenal in May 2017. The order should be completed by September 2018.
"This is great news to have nearly $11 million in new orders come in this month," said Tom Pond, the arsenal's director of operations. "Given this era of declining defense budgets, each order is essential to sustaining the critical skills of the arsenal workforce."
Since sequestration hit the Department of Defense in 2013, the arsenal has worked hard to position its manufacturing capability with other military services, such as the Marine Corps, and with foreign militaries, Pond said. Foreign militaries, from such countries as the Philippines, Latvia, and Afghanistan, have in recent years turned to the arsenal for various mortar systems. The primary reasons for this resurgence of foreign military sales is due to the arsenal's capability to produce high-quality weapon systems, while meeting tight delivery schedules.
What makes this order so important to retaining a critical skill base is that it will require a wide variety of machining skills, from tube production to the production of small components, such as base caps and breech plugs, Pisculli said. This order includes all aspects of manufacturing, from purchasing raw material to machining to the assembly of several close-tolerance machined parts.
The 81 mm mortar system is used primarily by Army and Marine mortar teams as an indirect fire weapon when a high angle trajectory is required to hit enemy troops, materiel, and positions. It has a maximum range of about 5,600 meters.
The arsenal currently has in production all three U.S. defense mortar systems, the 60 mm, 81 mm, and the 120 mm mortar system.
The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest, continuously active arsenal in the United States having begun operations during the War of 1812.
Today's arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most advanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer, and mortar systems. This National Historic Registered Landmark has an annual economic benefit to the local community in excess of $100 million and generated more than $138 million in revenue in fiscal year 2015.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2016 08:12 |
| Story ID: | 201527 |
| Location: | WATERVLIET ARSENAL, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 183 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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