The U.S. Department of Defense, referred to as the Department of War by the Trump administration, recently broke ground on a new munitions campus in Bloomfield, Ind.
The facility had previously been announced in Sept. 2023, and was then awarded $75 million in Defense Production Act Title II funds to strengthen the munitions supply chain and accelerate munitions production while making use of a public-private partnership designed to stimulate private capital for specialty facilities.
“The Munitions Campus Program represents a critical step toward modernizing America’s defense industrial base,” said Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi. “By investing in shared infrastructure and increased manufacturing capacity, the Department of War is ensuring the United States remains ready, resilient, and capable of meeting future national security challenges.”
Officials said the munitions campus was established as a pilot initiative to scale production for defense manufacturers, and that the project introduces a shared-infrastructure model that will help U.S. companies reduce operating costs. The campus will centralize key elements of the munitions supply chain through collocating manufacturers of major components and subcomponents, while simultaneously providing companies with access to state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing resources, officials said.
The anchor tenant for the Munitions Campus, Prometheus Energetics LLC also broke ground on its new headquarters and solid rocket motor manufacturing facility. Clustering industrial production in one location will allow companies to move faster, as well as operate more cost-effectively and efficiently, while scaling munitions and energetics output including Tomahawk, Javelin, and Stinger missiles, and other weapons systems.
“Our federal investment is the key that unlocks the $600 million in private capital making all of this possible,” Aissa Tovar, Director, Defense Production Act Purchases within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, said.