The U.S. Army awarded a $435 million contract on Friday to build a TNT production plant in western Kentucky that will become the first domestic source for the explosive material in decades, officials said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a key player in securing the funding, said the new facility in his home state is part of a broader retooling of the U.S. defense industrial base that’s needed to deter adversaries abroad. Trinitrotoluene, or TNT, is used in artillery shells, bombs and grenades.

Establishing domestic production of TNT is vital for national defense, the Army said. The current supply chain for the crucial explosive material is entirely reliant on overseas sources, it said.

  • @HorreC
    link
    103 hours ago

    Didnt Kentucky just blow up a factory just this week, Mitch is trying to up those employee death numbers. Good thing the south is trying to get those children workers laws.