WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (April 2016) -- The Army's Watervliet Arsenal has just received two contracts valued at more than $15 million that will help retain critical war-fighting manufacturing capability, said the arsenal's director of operations.
"The two contracts will require the arsenal to manufacture chrome-plated cannon tubes and lightweight bore evacuators for the 155mm self-propelled howitzer system," Tom Pond said. "The shear scope of the manufacturing requirements and the duration of the contracts will exercise several of the arsenal's critical skills that it is fighting to maintain during a drop in Army requirements."
Diane Nelson, the arsenal's program manager for the orders, said that unlike many other orders the arsenal receives, this is guaranteed work because the arsenal has received full funding from the Army for both contracts. Delivery of the bore evacuators will begin in July 2017 and the tubes in October 2017.
The tubes and bore evacuators will go directly to troops in the field, Nelson said. The tube order is for approximately $10.1 million and the bore evacuator order is for approximately $5.2 million.
What makes these new contracts so significant is that in an era of fiscal uncertainty in the U.S. defense budget these contracts will require more than 49,000 direct labor hours, Nelson said. The majority of the direct labor hours will help retain the arsenal's critical skill capabilities for manufacturing large caliber weapons components.
The arsenal has identified 11 critical skill capabilities that it needs to retain in order to continue as the Defense Department's large caliber weapons manufacturer of choice. Not all production requirements exercise all of the 11 core capabilities the arsenal seeks to retain and so, that is the value of gaining work that ensures the Army's manufacturing center at Watervliet retains a warm base of capability to respond to any crisis.
Pond said the new work requirements will add to the more than $32 million in new contracts the arsenal had received earlier this year for work that for the most part will be performed in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Each new fiscal year begins on October 1.
Last September, the arsenal announced that it received Army approval to manufacture full-bore chrome plated tubes for the 155mm howitzer system, Pond said.
Chrome plating has proven in field tests to extend the wear life of the tubes by up to 50 percent. Additionally, the chrome plating will make it easier for soldiers to maintain by reducing the amount of erosive residue that results from firing inside the tube's chamber.
The lightweight bore evacuator is a new product line that was started for the self-propelled howitzer system to replace a legacy version of the evacuator that was fielded decades ago. This new evacuator will reduce the weight of the current version, which is made from steel, from 203 pounds to about 110 pounds for the new fiberglass version. Making the gun system lighter is only secondary, however, to the effect of making a rather difficult maintenance job much easier for the artillerymen.
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. It celebrated its 200th anniversary on July 14, 2013.
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