Oh, what Cluster Fuck, this has turned into.
American soldiers are firing so much ammunition that the military's largest supplier of bullets can't keep up.
Alliant Techsystems is churning out 1.2 billion bullets a year at the Army-owned plant it runs in Independence, Mo. -- but it's already working 24 hours a day. So the Army has given contracts for 70 million rounds each to Israel Military Industries Ltd. and the Winchester unit of Olin Corp.
"There's no question that on many of the items that are being consumed rapidly in Iraq, like tank treads, like body armor, like small-caliber ammunition, the Army is beginning to run out, and the Army is becoming worried about its stockpile," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute.
The military is also trying to line up other bulletmakers for a total of 2 billion rounds a year of capacity, in case demand surges even more.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5068407/