NYT reveals how Russia’s war in Ukraine is draining US explosives stockpiles
Artillery shells with TNT (Photo: Wikipedia)
The US is facing a shortage of TNT (trinitrotoluene) amid Russia’s war against Ukraine. It is used in weapons production and mining, according to The New York Times.
TNT factories in the US closed in the 1980s due to hazardous production waste.
Since then, it has been supplied by foreign companies, mainly from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and China. These companies also handled waste disposal.
TNT was also recovered from explosives in decommissioned ammunition. However, due to the war in Ukraine, these sources have disappeared.
Poland, which was the sole authorized TNT supplier for the Pentagon, has also redirected most of it to Ukraine for its defense needs.
Russia and China have also stopped exporting TNT to the US.
The US has begun constructing a new TNT production plant in Kentucky, but it will not start operating before 2028. Moreover, it will be used solely for military purposes.
The US uses TNT in road construction and cement production, for blasting operations in quarries, and in large infrastructure projects.
As previously reported, in 2023, Japan was ready to supply TNT to the United States for shells intended for Ukraine.
This involved the US aiming to integrate a Japanese company into the TNT supply chain to deliver explosives to US military-owned factories, where they would be loaded into 155-mm shells.
