Brig. Gen. Michael Lalor, head of the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, or TACOM, said the military branch intends to break ground on the Long Range Precision Fires Facility at Watervliet Arsenal in New York, as part of its organic industrial base modernization effort, Breaking Defense reported Friday.
Lalor told the publication the proposed 350,000-square-foot facility will be equipped with new technologies and capabilities.
According to the report, the facility will accommodate the production of 155mm and larger cannon tubes and is expected to be operational for a minimum of four decades.
In addition to the Watervliet project, the brigadier general said that there are a number of projects that have kicked off in 2024 across TACOM’s six depots and arsenals.
“There are planning efforts for component repair facilities, component remanufacturing facilities at both Anniston [Army Depot] and Red River [Army Depot],” Lalor said. “Those [efforts] are all focused on getting those [facilities] in place by the 2028, 2029 time frame.”
According to TACOM’s commanding general, the Army could invest $75 million to $100 million in organic industrial base—or OIB—infrastructure and capabilities in FY 2025.
The Army is advancing its OIB Modernization Plan, which seeks to transform the service’s 23 arsenals, depots and ammunition plants by investing more than $18 billion over 15 years.