GRAHAM, Ky. — Muhlenberg County will soon be home of the country's first TNT production facility since the 1980s, as Repkon USA is building a state-of-the-art facility in Graham, Kentucky. 

TNT is a critical explosive the military uses for artillery shells, bombs, grenades and other material.

“This particular project in Muhlenberg will benefit from something we’ve already done, which is the package to help Ukraine and Israel and Taiwan," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "As congressman Guthrie and I both said, most of the money is being spent in this country, and this is the example of how we are insourcing a product we have been buying overseas.”

The U.S. Army awarded the company $435 million as part of the National Security Supplemental supporting the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

“It’s much cheaper to prevent a war than to have one," McConnell said. "We’re not spending nearly enough on defense, only 2.7% per (gross domestic product), which is nowhere near adequate. We need to build up our defense industrial complex. We need to spend more to avoid even spending more in a conflict."

"As (former president Ronald) Reagan said, you get peace through strength.”

Construction will begin in six months. The project will bring 50 permanent jobs 

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, was among those in attendance at the Friday, Nov. 8 ceremony. He said this will give us an extra edge in producing military materials faster than other countries such as Russia.

“It’s an issue for us," Guthrie said. "America won World War II because of brave men and women fighting, but also because we outproduced the rest of the world industrially. That's the lesson we learned.”

The first batch of TNT will be dispatched within 36 months.