Tampa, Florida-based Repkon USA has secured a $435 million contract to design, construct and commission a production facility for trinitrotoluene, or TNT, in Graham, Kentucky, for the U.S. Army.
The five-year, sole-source contract is aimed at reestablishing domestic production of the chemical compound needed for manufacturing ammunition, such as bombs, grenades and artillery shells, the Army said Friday.
According to the service branch, the award is part of its Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition's efforts to patch potential supply chain vulnerabilities.
Maj. Gen. John Reim, the Army's joint program executive officer for armaments and ammunition, said in a LinkedIn post that the contract returns a capability that the United States have not held since 1986. "Establishing a domestic source of TNT is a vital step toward building resilience within our defense industrial base, ensuring our armed forces have timely access to essential resources," he stressed.
Reim also called the initiative as "historic" as it affirms the Army's commitment to strengthening national security and cutting dependence on foreign suppliers for critical materials.
In December 2020, the Army awarded three companies an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity TNT production contract worth potentially $188.2 million over five years. One of the contractors, Florida-based Global Ordnance, announced that it will work with Ukraine-based TNT manufacturing firm Zarya under a partnership to initially deliver 1 million pounds of the explosive chemical compound to the Army.