Pentagon Presses Defense Contractors to Accelerate Weapons Production Amid Munitions Concerns

The Pentagon is urging defense contractors to rapidly increase the production and delivery of weapons as concerns grow over the U.S. military’s shrinking stockpiles of key munitions following the conflict with Iran.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg directed defense companies in a Wednesday memo to submit plans within three weeks outlining how they will significantly speed up production schedules and increase manufacturing capacity for critical military capabilities. The department confirmed the directive after it was first reported by The Washington Post.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told The Hill that Feinberg is leading an effort to overhaul what he described as a slow and outdated defense acquisition system.

“Deputy Secretary Feinberg is a generational leader in that effort, driving the hard work of fixing our broken, antiquated and immensely complex acquisitions system so we can actually produce the weapons our warfighters need at the pace the threat demands,” Parnell said.

He added that working directly with defense industry leaders to increase production has been a priority since the beginning of the Trump administration.
“Working directly with industry leaders to accelerate production is not new,” Parnell said. “It has been the clear intent of the President and this Secretary from the start.”
In his memo, Feinberg emphasized that the current pace of weapons development is no longer sufficient to meet national security needs.
“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”
The push comes as U.S. stockpiles of several advanced offensive and defensive weapons have declined since fighting with Iran began in late February.
According to the report, the military has used nearly all of its Army tactical missile systems and precision strike missiles, limiting President Donald Trump’s options for approving additional large-scale military operations against Iran.

The reduced inventory has also affected the administration’s position during diplomatic discussions involving the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, The Hill reported earlier this week.

Ari Cicurel, associate director of foreign policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, argued that Tehran could view Washington’s reluctance to escalate militarily as an advantage during negotiations.

He also suggested that Beijing could draw similar conclusions regarding how long the United States would be able to sustain a conflict involving Taiwan.
“Years of procrastination across multiple administrations of both parties left U.S. magazines too shallow before the war and closing the gap now demands sustained multiyear appropriations and expanded production capacity,” Cicurel said.

The report also cited estimates from the Center for Strategic and International Studies showing that the U.S. military has used more than half of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile inventory.

According to those estimates, the arsenal declined from roughly 450 missiles before the conflict to between 234 and 278 THAAD missiles by late July.
President Trump has rejected reports suggesting the U.S. faces a significant weapons shortage.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that the military has “massive amounts” of weapons and said “large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.”
Parnell said Feinberg’s directive is intended to help shape the fiscal year 2028 defense budget submitted to Congress.
“The memo 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,” Parnell said.

He added that the fiscal year 2027 budget currently under consideration on Capitol Hill “could supercharge this effort today.”