NATO Scrambles to Rebuild Domestic Explosives Supply Chains

Defense planners across NATO have initiated at least two dozen new manufacturing projects to reshore the production of military-grade explosives and propellants.

The industrial overhaul marks a sharp reversal of post-Cold War policies that outsourced the dangerous chemical supply chains behind essential munitions.

Rebuilding Domestic Capacity

A primary node in the American revitalization effort is Arkansas, according to The Wall Street Journal. The state is slated to host three distinct propellant facilities, including a new site by Virginia-based Regulus Global.

The Regulus plant will manufacture triple-base propellant, a highly volatile compound absent from domestic production lines since 1986.

South Korea’s Hanwha Defense and American component manufacturer D&M Holding are simultaneously advancing their own factory plans in the state, with the latter seeking Pentagon financing.

Until these projects finalize, the United States remains heavily constrained. Washington currently relies on a single World War II-era propellant plant in southern Virginia, having built zero new facilities of this type since the early 1970s.

"Ukraine and elsewhere are bringing back munitions that have a very different supply chain," noted Will Somerindyke, chairman of Regulus Global.

He emphasized that Western powers lack sovereignty over their ammunition reserves, warning that reversing the deficit will prove difficult.

Global Supply Chain Pressures

The strategic vulnerability extends well beyond propellants. Washington is entirely dependent on foreign imports for TNT, with supplies largely sourced from Poland.

That dependency became critical when Polish manufacturer Nitro-Chem warned U.S. clients it could no longer guarantee shipments due to regional conflict demands.

Consequently, global TNT prices have surged almost fourfold since early 2024.

To mitigate these chokepoints, domestic TNT production will soon resume in the U.S. for the first time in decades.

In parallel, European firms are constructing three new TNT plants, while London aims to complete six energetics facilities by 2030.

Financial commitments mirror the operational shift. A $1.45 trillion defense budget proposed by the Trump administration allocates nearly $50 billion specifically to secure domestic chemical, mineral, and energetics supply lines.

The U.S. Army has even reopened a defunct gold mine in Idaho to extract antimony sulfide.

The chemical byproduct is essential for manufacturing approximately one-third of all military ammunition and was previously sourced exclusively from overseas.

Regulatory Bottlenecks

Despite the massive capital influx, Western defense firms face severe regulatory and safety hurdles that delay operational timelines.

A fatal blast at a Tennessee explosives plant last year underscored the inherent dangers of the sector.

European bureaucracy presents further friction. Swedish enterprise Swebal spent two years and over $2 million acquiring permits for a rural TNT factory, only to face immediate appeals from local residents upon receiving approval in January.

Swebal anticipates production will begin no earlier than late 2028, a five-year turnaround.

Chief executive Joakim Sjöblom contrasted this rigid democratic framework with Moscow's wartime industrial complex.

Russia “doesn’t have the same permitting process," Sjöblom stated. "They can do it in one to two years.”

Efforts to modernize U.S. output also lag. Initiatives to increase domestic yields of RDX and IMX explosives have slipped behind schedule by approximately eight years, with output stagnant at 2017 levels.