The Watervliet Arsenal's upgrade to the 105mm howitzer will reduce risk to Artillerymen, logistics chain.

1. U.S. ARMY WATERVLIET ARSENAL
NEWS RELEASE
John B. Snyder
Public Affairs Officer
U.S. Army Watervliet Arsenal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Building 10, Room 102
Watervliet, NY 12189
March 18, 2013 (518) 266-5055
Arsenal makes first shipment of $22.6M contract
WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. -- The Arsenal announced today that it has completed its first
shipment of 19 M20A1 Breech Block Kits as part of a $22.6 million contract for the U.S. Army to
upgrade the M119A2 105mm howitzer.
“This order is one of the largest contracts the Arsenal has and it involves more than 61,000 hours of
direct labor,” said George Roach, the Arsenal program manager for this order. “This first shipment
will end up in the hands of artillerymen at Fort Bragg, N.C.”
The scope of this order is to manufacture more than 650 upgrade kits with monthly shipments of the
kits to continue through August 2015, said Roach.
“Although the order was received in 2011, it took a significant amount of lead time to purchase raw
material, design fixtures and gauges, and for the customer to conduct testing prior to going into full
production,” said Roach. “This was no easy project and it took the entire Arsenal, from contracting
to our friends at the Army’s Benét Laboratories, to make this shipment on time.”
Why a redesign?
In 1987, an agreement was reached with the British Royal Ordnance Factories to produce the M119
howitzer to replace the M102 howitzer. The M119 entered service with the U.S. Army’s 7th Infantry
Division in December 1989.
Several years ago, Benét Labs discovered a wear-driven, safety-related flaw in the British design,
albeit one that did not put Soldiers at immediate risk. This finding was significant enough, however,
to effect a change to the technical manual that required artillery crewmen to verify and measure the
firing pin protrusion before every live firing, said Jeanne Brooks, a Benét Labs mechanical engineer.
The breech block improvements under this new modification will reduce the number of breech
block assembly parts by 30 percent, which reduces the logistical footprint and maintenance time.
Additionally, the new breech block was optimized for wear resistance, which directly improves the
historical firing pin protrusion issues we set out to correct, Brooks said.
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2. Although the Arsenal’s business model has changed in recent years from a focus on cannon
production to the production of mortars, non-tube manufacturing, such as with the M20A1 breech
blocks, greatly helps the Arsenal to maintain a steady workload, said Roach.
The M20A1 breech blocks carry the firing mechanism and close the breech end of a 105mm cannon
when firing. They are, as are the cannon tubes, high-pressure vessels that are machined to extremely
tight tolerances that are measured in thousandths of an inch.
The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest,
continuously active arsenal in the United States having begun operations during the War of 1812.
Today’s Arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most advanced, high-
tech, high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer, and mortar systems. This National Historic
Registered Landmark has an annual economic benefit to the local community in excess of $100
million.
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Photos and cutlines are located at:
First year machinist apprentice Cale Kneer preparing a 105mm breech block for drilling.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69610950@N03/8568243845/in/photostream
Arsenal machinist Francis “Frank” Taylor is grinding rails on a 105mm breech block.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69610950@N03/8569344612/in/photostream/
Arsenal machinist Benjamin Noxon, left, assists apprentice Brian Martino on 105mm breech blocks.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69610950@N03/8568248991/in/photostream
First year machinist apprentice Brian Martino measuring tolerances on a 105mm breech block.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69610950@N03/8569348844/in/photostream/