U.S. arms production
in WW2

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

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

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

At the end is an approximate implementation of the U.S. armaments production to PP's (production points) for the strategy game WW2 Total - in the case that the game play is close to the events of the history of WW2.

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:

Type of Weapon	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Overall	use in the strategy game for the calculation of:
Tanks and Self-propelled guns	-	331	4,052	24,997	29,497	17,565	11,968	88,410	Tanks, self-propelled guns
Artillery (including Anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns)	257,390							257,390	AT, AA, Artillery
Infantry weapons: Mortars	105,054							105,054	Mortar
Infantry weapons: Machine-guns (without sub-machine guns)	2,679,840							2,679,840	Machine guns
Infantry weapons: rifles	approx. 11,750,000							approx. 11,750,000	rifles
Infantry weapons: sub-machine guns	approx. 1,956,000							approx. 1,956,000	Sub-machine guns
Military trucks and Lorries	32,604		183,614	619,735	621,502	596,963	327,893	2,382,311	Trucks
Fighter planes	-	1,162	4,416	10,769	23,988	38,873	20,742	99,950	Fighters
Light and medium bombers	?	623	4,115	10,012	19,740	18,672	9,282	approx. 62,444	Bombers
Four-engined bombers	?	623	4,115	2,615	9,615	16,331	6,805	35,366 minimum	Strategic bombers
Reconnaissance planes	?	63	727	1,468	734	259	667	3,918	-
Transport planes	?	164	532	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	-	-	-	18	65	45	13	141	CV
Battleships	-	-	-	4	2	2	-	8	BB
Cruisers	-	-	1	8	11	14	14	48	BB
Destroyers	-	-	2	82	128	74	63	349	DD
Escorts (Corvettes, Frigates)	-	-	-	-	298	194	6	498	DD
Submarines	-	-	2	34	55	81	31	203	Subs
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	Transport ships

Raw material production for the military weapon production above:

Annual strategic raw material production (m. metric tons)	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
Coal	?	?	?	528.5	535.3	562.0	523.9
Ore	?	?	?	107.6	103.1	96.0	90.2
Steel	?	?	?	80.6	82.2	85.1	86.6
Aluminium (in 1,000 metric tons - especially important for aircraft production)	?	?	?	751.9	1,251.7	1,092.9	1,026.7

U.S. arms production for the strategy game WW2 Total

The transformation of the previous U.S. production figures in average numbers per month and the value in PP's (production points) as part of the total Anglo-American military production for the strategy game WW2 Total :

Type of weapon	Fighting power	for use outside the European theater of war	1 unit for the game for every:	1942			1943
Type of weapon	Fighting power	for use outside the European theater of war	1 unit for the game for every:	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)
Tanks, Tank Destroyers and Self-propelled guns	80%	10%	275	2,083	100	757	2,458	100	894
Trucks	80%	40%	6,250	51,645	12	99	51,792	12	99
Rifles	80%	20%	14,000	235,000	10	168	235,000	10	168
Sub-machine guns	80%	20%	14,000	35,000	10	25	35,000	10	25
Machine-guns	80%	40%	9,500	50,000	16	84	50,000	16	84
Mortars	80%	20%	2,500	2,000	20	16	2,000	20	16
Artillery, AT, AA	80%	20%	900	5,000	30	167	5,000	30	167
Fighter planes	80%	50%	750	897	160	191	1,999	160	426
Light and medium bombers	80%	50%	750	834	200	222	1,645	200	390
Heavy bombers	80%	50%	750	218	800	233	801	800	855
Battleships and Cruisers	100%	90%	36 BB (or 144 CA or 216 CLA)	0.467	2,500	32	0.350	2,500	24
Aircraft carriers	100%	90%	36 CV (or 90 CVL/CVE)	1.500	1,500	63	5.417	1,500	226
Destroyers, Escorts	100%	66%	60 DD (or 90 TB, or 180 ESC, or 240 MTB)	6.833	500	57	23.083	500	192
Submarines	100%	90%	220	2.833	250	4	4.583	250	6
Transport ships	100%	50%	per 160,000 t (because for whole world)	456,647	120	342	954,030	120	716
TOTAL						2,460			4,288
Change of price value by increasing the productivity and savings in the civilian industrial sector without more consumption of strategic raw materials					-40%	-984		-60%	-2.573
Sub-total (PP's)						1.476			1.715
Additional PP's for research, maintenance, political influences and starting of offensives					+70%	+1.033		+75%	+1.286
TOTAL (PP's)						2.509			3.001

Type of weapon	Fighting power	for use outside the European theater of war	1 unit for the game for every:	1944			1945
Type of weapon	Fighting power	for use outside the European theater of war	1 unit for the game for every:	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)	Average per month	Price per unit (PP's)	Total value (PP's)
Tanks, Tank Destroyers and Self-propelled guns	80%	10%	275	1,464	100	532	Because of the various V days (April-May 1945 in Europe, August-September 1945 in the Pacific) and as a result of the shutdown of the arms production, the value for 1945 can not be reasonably calculated and the figures for 1944 should be used instead.
Trucks	80%	40%	6,250	49,747	12	96
Rifles	80%	20%	14,000	235,000	10	168
Sub-machine guns	80%	20%	14,000	35,000	10	25
Machine-guns	80%	40%	9,500	50,000	16	84
Mortars	80%	20%	2,500	2,000	20	16
Artillery, AT, AA	80%	20%	900	5,000	30	167
Fighter planes	100%	50%	600	3,239	160	864
Light and medium bombers	100%	50%	600	1,556	200	519
Heavy bombers	100%	50%	600	1,361	800	1,815
Battleships and Cruisers	100%	90%	36 BB (or 144 CA or 216 CLA)	0.400	2,500	28
Aircraft carriers	100%	90%	36 CV (or 90 CVL/CVE)	3.750	1,500	156
Destroyers, Escorts	100%	66%	60 DD (or 90 TB, or 180 ESC, or 240 MTB)	14.250	500	119
Submarines	100%	90%	220	6.750	250	9
Transport ships	100%	50%	per 160,000 t (because for whole world)	774,013	120	581
TOTAL						5,179
Change of price value by increasing the productivity and savings in the civilian industrial sector without more consumption of strategic raw materials					-60%	-3.107
Sub-total (PP's)						2.072
Additional PP's for research, maintenance, political influences and starting of offensives					+65%	+1.347
TOTAL (PP's)						3.419

Note: The aircraft production (one per 300 planes at 100% fighting power) is calculated about 1/3 less than the comparable tank production (one per 200 tanks at 100% fighting power) because about 1/3 of the total aircraft losses were due to accident.

Note: a number of the unit types listed here already will be added only in later versions of the strategy game WW2 Total !