Iowa Army Ammunition Plant embarks on a $1.5 billion expansion

In October of last year, American Ordnance along with U.S. Army officials broke ground at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAAP) in Middletown, Iowa, for a product expansion. The project is part of an estimated $1.5 billion in updates planned over the next two years.

The project encompasses related site preparation and utility extensions, officials said. The Army selected Bi-State Contracting Inc., based in West Burlington, Iowa, as the sole primary contractor to execute the project.

“The facility that will play a pivotal role in supporting the production of medium- and large-caliber ammunition,” said Lt. Col. John Dunlapp, IAAAP’s commander in an U.S. Army news release. “This groundbreaking ceremony marks a moment of progress, innovation and a commitment to excellence. As we embark on the construction of the metrology lab, we lay the foundation for a facility that will support our logistics operations, ensuring the highest standards of accuracy and precision in ammunition production.”

American Ordnance is the operator of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant and is a premier manufacturer of ammunition to the United States military.

The ammunition plant opened in 1941 to make ammunition for World War II and closed in 1945 when the war ended. It reopened in 1950 to begin making ammunition for the Korean War. The massive Iowa Army Ammunition Plant campus covers more than 19,000 acres, about the area of Cleveland, Ohio. Nearly all the plant employees are civilians with an Army colonel serving as commander of the facility with about two dozen additional soldiers on site.