Dow to invest in upgrade of critical chemical defense materiel facility

The Department of War will launch on June 22 a five-year, nearly $19 million investment at Pine Bluff Arsenal near White Hall, Arkansas, to upgrade smoke grenade and smoke pot production. The joint effort by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program and the U.S. Army will replace 25-year-old obsolete equipment and refurbish an existing facility to house new IBAS-furnished mixing equipment. In addition to the IBAS investment, the Army has committed $13.7 million in Fiscal Year 2024 for the refurbishment.

“Many of our most important legacy manufacturing systems are hard to maintain due to the departure of the original equipment manufacturers from the defense industrial base,” said Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, the Honorable Michael Cadenazzi. “Our partnership with the U.S. Army to modernize Pine Bluff’s facilities introduces cutting-edge equipment to deliver warfighter materiel at speed and scale.”

The modernization will incorporate automation and modernized fluidized bed mixers to increase throughput. Funding will also support the purchase of additional equipment to expand capacity or provide redundancy during maintenance. Facility upgrades are expected to improve safety and other quality factors to ensure the Joint Services have a reliable supply of smoke and obscurant munitions.

Pine Bluff Arsenal is a key supplier of M18, M83, and M8 smoke grenades and a leader in the design, manufacture, and refurbishment of smoke, riot control, incendiary munitions, and chemical/biological defense items. The arsenal supports the Secretary of War’s priority of Supplying Lethality at Speed and Scale by preserving defense manufacturing capabilities that support ground, air, and sea forces with smoke commodities not easily produced in commercial markets.

Since IBAS began in 2014, the Department of War’s Office of Industrial Base Policy has invested more than $4.6 billion across 216 projects to strengthen the defense industrial base. The program is part of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy’s effort to analyze the industrial base, identify critical gaps, and make targeted investments to build new capabilities and secure capacity in partnership with industry.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy works with domestic and international partners to forge and sustain a robust, secure, and resilient industrial base that enables the warfighter. Its Warfighting Investments, Resourcing, and Execution directorate, which manages IBAS and Defense Production Act Purchases, provides capabilities to achieve the strategic aims of the 2026 National Defense Strategy and presidential executive orders calling for a strong, responsive national industrial base.