U.S. Army, Metallus Commission New Manufacturing Assets
09/03/2026 - The U.S. Army and Metallus Inc. held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate commissioning a bloom reheat furnace, roller furnace and supporting equipment to increase production of high-fragmentation (HF-1) steel at the facilities in Canton, Ohio, USA.
The U.S. Army said the new production capacity will strengthen the domestic munitions supply chain. At full capacity, it will be able to produce enough HF-1 steel to manufacture over 120,000 155-mm metal parts monthly.
“Today marks the latest in a massive campaign of strategic investments — valued at nearly US$6 billion — within our Defense Industrial Base. To put that into perspective, the Army’s ammunition enterprise has opened 16 new facilities over the last two years. That is more than we have opened in the last 40 years combined,” said Alicia Johnson, a colonel and project manager for Combat Ammunition Systems (PM CAS).
To fund the three capital investments, PM CAS, an office under the Army’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Agile Sustainment and Ammunition, along with Army Contracting Command in New Jersey, leveraged an Other Transaction Agreement worth US$99 million.
“The work done at Metallus and elsewhere is another important step in furthering a credible deterrence with the added industrial capacity to sustain combat operations over time,” Johnson continued.
The company said in addition to HF-1 steel, the expansion will increase production for metals in precision rockets, advanced guided missiles and bombs to support Department of War munitions requirements.
“Today marks the latest in a massive campaign of strategic investments — valued at nearly US$6 billion — within our Defense Industrial Base. To put that into perspective, the Army’s ammunition enterprise has opened 16 new facilities over the last two years. That is more than we have opened in the last 40 years combined,” said Alicia Johnson, a colonel and project manager for Combat Ammunition Systems (PM CAS).
To fund the three capital investments, PM CAS, an office under the Army’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Agile Sustainment and Ammunition, along with Army Contracting Command in New Jersey, leveraged an Other Transaction Agreement worth US$99 million.
“The work done at Metallus and elsewhere is another important step in furthering a credible deterrence with the added industrial capacity to sustain combat operations over time,” Johnson continued.
The company said in addition to HF-1 steel, the expansion will increase production for metals in precision rockets, advanced guided missiles and bombs to support Department of War munitions requirements.
