Directly from the story you linked:
"A spokesman for Alliant Techsystems, which operates the U.S. Army plant in Independence, said modernization at the plant is the main reason for the job reductions... The Kansas City Star reported that the plant has undergone $400 million in renovations to increase the efficiency of producing ammunition for the Army."
Also from the article:
Kidder also attributed the cutbacks to recent reductions in U.S. military actions.
This insinuates that demand is down, when there are real shortages on the streets. Since he's being disingenuous on the last part, a rational person might question the rest, but hey, that's just me