The Department of War (DOW) announced today the June 22 kickoff of a five-year, nearly $19 million investment in Pine Bluff Arsenal, located near White Hall, Arkansas, for production and facility enhancements to improve smoke grenade and smoke pot production. The project, which is being funded jointly through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program and the U.S. Army, will replace 25-year-old obsolete equipment and refurbish an existing facility to house the new IBAS-furnished mixing equipment. In addition to the $19 million IBAS investment, the Army has committed $13.7 million in Fiscal Year 2024 to support the facility refurbishment.
"Many of our most important legacy manufacturing systems are hard to maintain due to the departure of the original equipment manufacturers from the defense industrial base," said Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, the Honorable Michael Cadenazzi. "Our partnership with the U.S. Army to modernize Pine Bluff's facilities introduces cutting-edge equipment to deliver warfighter materiel at speed and scale."
The new equipment will incorporate automation and modernized fluidized bed mixers to enhance production throughput. The funding will also allow for the purchase of additional equipment to provide additional capacity or redundancy when required maintenance is needed. Facility upgrades will also improve safety and other quality factors that ensure the industrial base can provide the Joint Services with a reliable source of supply for all smoke and obscurant munitions.
Pine Bluff Arsenal is a key supplier for M18, M83, and M8 smoke grenades and a leader in the design, manufacture, and refurbishment of smoke, riot control, incendiary munitions, and chemical/biological defense items. Pine Bluff Arsenal supports the Secretary of War's priority of Supplying Lethality at Speed and Scale by preserving these crucial defense manufacturing needs that support ground, air, and sea fighting forces with smoke commodities that cannot be easily produced in commercial markets.
