The Pentagon is urgently calling on America’s defense sector to hasten their weapons production, as the nation seeks to replenish its dwindling armaments, strained further by the ongoing conflict with Iran.
In a statement on Saturday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell emphasized that the department is intensifying its efforts to procure munitions swiftly, ensuring that “the weapons our warfighters need” are obtained at a pace that matches the escalating threats. This acceleration aligns with a comprehensive modernization initiative that began well before the five-month-old conflict erupted, he added.
In a decisive move, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg contacted leading figures within the defense industry on Wednesday. He demanded they provide action plans within 21 days to significantly enhance delivery speeds and ramp up production for essential capabilities, as per a memo seen by The Washington Post.
Feinberg’s memo was clear in its urgency: “Years-long development cycles are not acceptable.” He underscored the necessity to “dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”
The urgency of this directive is underscored by recent hostilities with Iran, which have further depleted the U.S. military’s already reduced supplies of advanced missile interceptors. This depletion could potentially increase risks to American forces if the conflict reignites, a new analysis warns.
Shrunken inventories of Patriot and THAAD interceptors may force the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defenses, according to the analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. For example, it said, American forces may launch fewer missiles against incoming Iranian drones and missiles, raising the chance of one getting through.
President Donald Trump in recent days has bristled over public reports of a munitions shortage, posting on Truth Social on Thursday that the U.S. has “massive amounts.” He added that “large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.”
On Saturday, Parnell affirmed that Feinberg’s memo seeking a rapid escalation of weapons production is “real,” adding that it “will inform the fiscal year 2028 budget submitted to Congress for funding, and it is entirely consistent with our ongoing push to rebuild the defense industrial base.”
A defense spending bill is currently stalled in Congress, with lawmakers fuming over Trump’s military action against Iran and resisting the White House request to substantially increase Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion, up from about $900 billion last year.
The number of Patriot interceptors fell from 2,330 before the war to 1,030 when the April ceasefire took effect, CSIS estimated last month. Following recent fighting, the stockpile is now estimated to be between 759 and 827, a decrease of at least 65% since before the conflict began.
The number of THAAD interceptors fell from 452 before the war to between 232 and 262 at the start of the April ceasefire, CSIS said. The U.S. was able to replenish some of the inventory to between 234 and 278 interceptors. But the stockpile is still at least 38% smaller than it was before the conflict.
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