The Pentagon is urging defense contractors to increase production of 12 key weapons and is requesting missile suppliers to double or even quadruple production in a short period of time to prepare for potential conflicts between the United States and China.
According to The Wall Street Journal, sources familiar with the matter stated that senior Pentagon officials have held a series of meetings with top representatives from multiple U.S. missile manufacturers to accelerate the production of the most in-demand critical weapons.
Several sources mentioned that Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg has taken an unusually hands-on role in the “Munitions Acceleration Council” and engages in weekly calls with executives from various companies to discuss related issues.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, when asked about the plans, stated, “President Trump and Secretary Hagee are exploring extraordinary ways to expand our military strength and accelerate ammunition production. This effort is a result of collaboration between defense industry leaders and senior officials at the Pentagon.”
Some sources indicated that the newly formed “Munitions Acceleration Council” is focusing on 12 specific weapons that the Pentagon hopes to have sufficient stockpiles of to prepare for potential U.S.-China conflicts. The list of weapons includes Patriot interceptors, long-range anti-ship missiles, Standard 6 air defense missiles, precision strike missiles, and Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missiles, among others. Due to Lockheed Martin’s struggles to keep up with the surging global demand, Patriot missiles are being prioritized.
In June of this year, the Pentagon convened a roundtable meeting with top missile suppliers. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine attended the meeting, which included weapons manufacturers, newcomers to the market like Anduril Industries, and executives from a few rocket propellant and battery suppliers.
With the situation in Ukraine and Israel demanding significant weaponry, maintaining sufficient stockpiles of key weapons is crucial for deterring China. Secretary of Defense Hegseth, during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore at the end of May and beginning of June, explicitly laid out the Trump administration’s stance on Taiwan. He stated that the U.S. believes that any attempt by Communist China to use force to conquer Taiwan would have devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific region and the world at large. He emphasized that the threat posed by the Chinese Communist regime is very real.
He further expressed that the U.S.’s goal is to prevent war and make the cost of war prohibitively high to make peace the only option. The U.S. aims to achieve this through a powerful deterrent shield. However, if deterrence fails, and if the U.S. military commanders issue the order, “we will be prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best – fight courageously and win.”
Hegseth abruptly summoned senior U.S. military officers stationed around the world back to the United States for a meeting held on September 30 in Virginia last week. This move was highly unusual, as meetings of this scale are typically conducted via video conferencing. According to President Trump’s remarks at the White House last Thursday (September 25), this meeting was at least partially related to weapons and equipment.
“We have the best equipment in the world,” stated President Trump. “Many generals want to come here. They will also visit equipment bases and discuss the latest weapons.”