The US armed forces are experiencing a shortage of TNT due to the suspension of supplies from other countries and the sending of old ammunition to Kiev, which was recycled to produce this explosive, reports the newspaper The New York Times(NYT), citing its sources.
According to their data, the US previously had two sources of TNT. One of them was the recycling of old ammunition, the second was imported mainly from Russia, China, Poland and Ukraine. After 2022, the US government decided to reserve old ammunition for sending to Ukraine, which deprived the country of this source of explosives. After the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Poland became the only authorized supplier of TNT to the Pentagon, but most of the substance produced in the country is also sent to Ukraine, the publication notes. Russia and China, the publication's sources claim, have stopped their supplies of TNT to the United States.
TNT is used for blasting during the extraction of resources needed for construction, so the shortage of explosives could lead to delays in the implementation of construction projects in the country. According to the publication, the last TNT production plant in the United States was closed in the mid-1980s. By the end of 2028, authorities plan to build and put into operation a new explosives production plant in the state of Kentucky for $ 435 million. The newspaper also reports that, amid the shortage of TNT, the United States has already discovered an alternative explosive - pentrite. It is produced at three plants in the US, but it is not yet clear how quickly they can increase production for the needs of the US armed forces.