FACT CHECK: Video Shows Old Artillery Shells Being Refurbished
A video shared on X claims to show 155mm artillery shells being made.
🇺🇸 The 155mm shell production in the USA pic.twitter.com/OkujOX2Ekk
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) March 27, 2025
Verdict: Misleading
The video shows the refurbishment of M549A1 High Explosive rounds, which have not been in production for years.
Fact Check:
Social media users are claiming to show 155mm artillery shell production in the U.S. One user wrote, “The 155mm shell production in the USA.”
This claim is misleading. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video shows M549A1 High Explosive – Rocket Assisted Projectiles being refurbished in Feb. 2020, according to the video’s description.
Colby Badhwar, an analyst for The Insider, also debunked the claim in a March 30 tweet.
This is Blue Grass Army Depot in Feb 2020. They are refurbishing old M549A1 High Explosive – Rocket Assisted Projectiles, which have not been in production for many years. This sort of work wasn’t happening at any significant scale back then so there was no reason to invest…
— Colby Badhwar 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@ColbyBadhwar) March 30, 2025
“This is Blue Grass Army Depot in Feb 2020. They are refurbishing old M549A1 High Explosive – Rocket Assisted Projectiles, which have not been in production for many years. This sort of work wasn’t happening at any significant scale back then so there was no reason to invest heavily in more automation. Newer/modernized production facilities are significantly more automated,” he tweeted.
Business Insider visited Scranton Army Plant, which shows how 155mm shells are made. The process is more automated than the one shown in the original X video.
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“The US has sent Ukraine millions of 155mm rounds since the war started, including cluster bombs. But there’s a global shortage of 155 shells, and some are afraid that the US is depleting its stockpile. We visited the Scranton Ammunition Plant to see how common shells are made,” reads the video description.
