On Friday, August 15, 2025, the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) at Rock Island, Illinois, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, signed a contract worth 635,200,000 USD with MSM Group North America Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida, for the design and construction of a new production line, specifically for the manufacture, loading, and packaging of ammunition, at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAAP) in Des Moines County, Iowa.
IAAAP was established in November 1940 as the Iowa Ordnance Plant, with production beginning in 1941, even before the attack on Pearl Harbor / Photo: U.S. Army
This is a fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment, meaning the price is set but can be adjusted in response to changes in costs (e.g., inflation or material prices). The project, carried out in Middletown, Iowa, is scheduled for completion by August 2029 and is funded by the U.S. Army from the NDAA defense budgets for fiscal years 2024–2025.
The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant is located in Des Moines County in the southeastern part of Iowa, about 8 miles west of the city of Burlington, near Middletown. It covers an area of about 19,011 acres. It is a key component of the U.S. ammunition production infrastructure: 155 mm artillery, 120 mm tank, 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm mortar rounds, as well as warheads for missiles such as TOW, Hellfire, Javelin, Stinger, and Sidewinder, along with explosives including mines, grenades, demolition charges, and ammunition for ceremonial and test purposes.
Although the contract does not explicitly state it, it will likely expand the 155 mm artillery ammunition production capacity, given the rising demand from the U.S. Army and its commitments to increase domestic production in this area, up to 100,000 shells per month. Since 2022, the U.S. Army has nearly quadrupled the monthly output of this key ammunition through efforts to enhance readiness, meet global demand, and incorporate lessons learned from ongoing conflicts. It is worth noting that on April 22 of this year, the U.S. Army and General Dynamics-Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS; part of General Dynamics) officially opened a new 155 mm artillery ammunition production plant in Camden, Arkansas.
Earlier, in 2023, American Ordnance LLC, the current operator of IAAAP, which falls under the Joint Munitions Command from Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, received a contract worth USD 24.9 million for the construction of a power plant at IAAAP.
It is also worth noting that MSM Group North America Inc. was established in January 2025 and is owned by the Czech defense holding Czechoslovak Group (CSG).
