Trump battles time in bid to boost weapons stockpiles

Source: The Hill

07/04/26 12:00 PM ET


President Trump’s talk of boosting U.S. munitions stockpiles is facing the harsh reality of America’s production capacity. Even if Congress passes his enormous $1.5 trillion request for defense spending, which is looking less likely with each passing week, defense contractors are simply unable to rapidly refill caches that have been badly depleted during the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Trump met last week with the CEOs of Lockheed, Boeing and Honeywell, a gathering during which Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg grilled executives over delays on key programs, Reuters reported.

“You’re not doing enough” was the initial message to executives, a source told the outlet. But the highly sophisticated missiles and interceptors take years to churn out at the mercy of government funding cycles. That means recently announced intentions to expand assembly lines are still years away from yielding tangible results.

“It’s going to take two to four years to replenish” the likes of the Patriot missile, Tomahawk, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD ) anti-ballistic missile system, said Jerry McGinn, the director of the Center for the Industrial Base at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5948623-trump-munitions-stockpiles-hurdles-time-congress/