U.S. arms production

U.S. arms production during WW2 from 1939-1945.

M3 Lee tanks under construction
M3 Lee tanks under construction in the huge new tank factory of the Detroit Arsenal.

Following are tables of the annual U.S. arms production (excluding ammunition) and a comparison of the necessary strategic raw materials.

U.S. arms production by weapon types

Annual U.S. production figures of the main arms and military equipment (without ammunition) during WW2 from 1939-1945:

Armaments:

Type of Weapon1939194019411942194319441945TOTAL
Tanks and Self-propelled guns-331 4,052 24,997 29,497 17,565 11,968 88,410
Artillery (including anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns) 257,390 (1939-45)?????? 257,390
Mortars 105,054 (1939-45)?????? 105,054
Machine-guns (without sub-machine guns) 2,679,840 (1939-45)?????? 2,679,840
Infantry rifles c.11,750,000 (1939-45)?????? c.11,750,000
Sub-machine guns c.1,956,000 (1939-45)?????? c.1,956,000
Military trucks and Lorries 32,604 (1939-40)? 183,614 619,735 621,502 596,963 327,893 2,382,311
Fighter planes? 1,162 4,416 10,769 23,988 38,873 20,742 99,950
Light and medium bombers?623 (incl. heavy) 4,115 (incl. heavy) 10,012 19,740 18,672 9,282 maximum 62,444
Four-engined bombers?? (in light and medium)? (in light and medium) 2,615 9,615 16,331 6,805 minimum 35,366
Reconnaissance planes?63727 1,468734259667 3,918
Transport planes?164532 1,984 7,012 9,834 4,403 23,929
Trainers and miscellaneous military types? 1,794 9,373 17,631 19,939 7,577 1,309 57,623
Aircraft carriers (all types)---18654513141
Battleships---422-8
Cruisers--1811141448
Destroyers--2821287463349
Escorts (Corvettes, Frigates)----2981946498
Submarines--234558131203
Merchant shipping tonnage 376,419 528,697 1,031,974 5,479,766 11,448,360 9,288,156 5,839,858 33,993,230


Raw material production for the military weapon production above:

Annual strategic raw material production (m. metric tons):

Year1939194019411942194319441945
Coal???528.5535.3562.0523.9
Ore???107.6103.196.090.2
Steel???80.682.285.186.6
Aluminium (in 1,000 metric tons - especially important for aircraft production)???751.9 1,251.7 1,092.9 1,026.7


References and literature

World War II – A Statistical Survey (John Ellis)
Chronology of World War II (Christopher Argyle)


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1 thought on “U.S. arms production”

  1. Any idea where I can locate information relating to how and where phosphorus incendiary devices were put together and stored during WWII? I can locate no information or references.

    Thanks
    Charles

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