The Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense 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 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 department efforts in the last week to significantly speed the process but insisted it was part of a broader modernization 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.”
Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told CBS News earlier this week that the U.S. has used nearly all of its global stockpile of long-range precision missiles during the war with Iran.
Specifically, the U.S. has used virtually all of its Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, and Precision Strike Missiles, the sources said.
President 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.”
CBS/AP
