Pentagon urges faster US weapons production amid stockpile concerns

The Pentagon has called on the United States defence industry to accelerate production of weapons to help replenish its diminished stockpile of munitions, including those depleted in the ongoing war with Iran .

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Saturday that the department was actively focused on boosting munitions acquisitions to provide “the weapons our warfighters need at the pace the threat demands.” He confirmed the department’s efforts over the last week to significantly speed up the process, but insisted it was part of a broader modernisation effort that predated the five-month-old conflict.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders on Wednesday, giving them no more than 21 days to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.

“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”

The memo comes as recent fighting with Iran used up more of the US military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors. Experts say shortages in both offensive and defensive weapons could leave US forces less secure.

Shrunken inventories of Patriot and THAAD interceptors may force the US and its Middle Eastern allies to take greater risks to conserve those air defences, according to an analysis by the Centre 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.

US President Donald Trump has bristled over public reports of a munitions shortage. On Thursday, he again denied that the US faced any strategic disadvantage when it came to weapons stores after five months of war.

“The US has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. He added that “large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed” and that defence contractors are “building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history”.