Ukrainian artillerymen fire the M109 self-propelled howitzer during training at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 12, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Spencer Rhodes, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team)

GVSETS 2024 — A pair of senior Army officials implored the industry-heavy audience at a ground vehicle conference to get production in gear, chafing at excuses and promising truckloads of money in contracts.

“I am personally no longer interested in hearing about COVID. That time is over, okay? It is time to deliver and produce and meet the commitment or we are going to have to shift to another direction,” Brig. Gen. Michael Lalor, commanding general of the Army’s Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), Detroit Arsenal (DTA), said Wednesday during a panel at the 16th Annual Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering & Technology Symposium (GVSETS) in Novi, Mich.

Likewise, Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, program executive officer for Ground Combat Vehicles said piles of cash are waiting in the wings.

“I have more authorizations to be able to request replenishment of about $6 billion of backlog. [The] replenishment industry cannot respond fast enough for me to actually commit all that,” Dean said. “If you [industry] want to do something, finding a way to produce faster and get bigger contracts in place, I can back up the money truck and dump it in your parking lot.”

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As the US leads an international community in aiding Ukraine’s fight against Russia, committing nearly $55.4 billion in security assistance to Kyiv, including vehicles, missiles, rockets, spare parts and ammunition from the Army’s stockpiles. Data from the Pentagon shows that the US shipped to Ukraine over 3 million 155mm rounds; 10,000 Javelins; 2,000 Stingers; 200 Bradley Fighting Vehicles; nearly 200 Strykers; and around 200 155mm Howitzers.

Although defense companies have been investing in manufacturing capabilities and improving their facilities to surge production, their speed is not matching the Army’s needs to restock.

“I wake up with two priorities at work: Army readiness and Ukraine,” Lalor said. “We are monitoring every day what we are producing in terms of the execution of our Foreign Military Sales fulfillment and requirements based on presidential drawdowns, or USAID [United States Agency for International Development] directives.”

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Col. John Cooper, Acting Executive Director, Army Contracting Command (ACC)-DTA, told the audience that the (ACC)-DTA plans to enhance the US vendors base from 2025 by including some of non-traditional suppliers.

“What we are seeing as an organization is just a less robust supply chain. We lack the depth in diversity, just for a variety of reasons, COVID or inflationary pressures. One of the challenges we have is to build that back,” Cooper added.