Pentagon pushes to accelerate weapons production amid depleted stockpile concerns

The Pentagon has moved to press the US defense industry to accelerate weapons production to replenish dwindling ammunition stockpiles, including types heavily used in the five-month-long conflict with Iran.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Saturday that the department is focused on accelerating ammunition procurement to provide “the weapons our warfighters need at the speed the threat demands.” He confirmed that efforts over the past week have aimed to significantly speed up the process, emphasizing that this is part of a broader modernization effort that predates the conflict.

According to a memorandum obtained by The Washington Post, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders on Wednesday, asking them to submit plans within no more than 21 days to “significantly accelerate delivery schedules, surge and/or increase production output for critical capabilities.”

“Multi-year development cycles are unacceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate program timelines and expand production capacity now.”

The memo comes as recent clashes with Iran have further drained the US military’s already reduced stockpiles of advanced interceptor missiles. Experts say shortages of both offensive and defensive weapons could leave US forces less safe.

According to analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, declining reserves of Patriot and THAAD interceptors could force the US and its Middle East allies to accept greater risks to preserve their air defenses. For instance, US forces might fire fewer missiles to counter Iranian drones and missiles, increasing the chance that some attacks get through.

President Donald Trump has reacted sharply to reports of ammunition shortages. On Thursday, he again denied that the US faces any strategic disadvantage in its arsenal after five months of war. On Truth Social, he wrote that the US has “massive amounts of ammunition, especially certain types,” that “large amounts are being produced and shipped to the US as needed” and that defense contractors are “building the largest number of plants in the history of our country.”

On Saturday, Parnell confirmed that Feinberg’s memo on accelerating weapons production is “authentic” and will “serve as the basis for the fiscal year 2028 budget submitted to Congress for funding, while being fully aligned with ongoing efforts to rebuild the defense industrial base.”

A defense spending bill is currently stalled in Congress, as lawmakers are angered by Trump’s military actions against Iran and oppose the White House’s proposal to increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion, up from about $900 billion last year. Experts warn that even with additional funding, it would take at least three years to restore Patriot and THAAD interceptor inventories to pre-war levels.

CSIS estimated last month that the number of Patriot interceptors had fallen from 2,330 before the war to 1,030 when the April ceasefire took effect. After recent clashes, the stockpile is now estimated at just 759 to 827 missiles, a decline of at least 65% from before the conflict.

For THAAD interceptors, the number fell from 452 before the war to between 232 and 262 at the start of the April ceasefire, according to CSIS. The US has partially replenished inventories to between 234 and 278 missiles, but that is still at least 38% fewer than before the conflict.

Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense signed a new agreement with major defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to increase production capacity for missile defense system components. Retired US Marine Corps Colonel Mark Cancian, one of the authors of the CSIS report, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday: “We don’t have many [interceptors] left, and there’s no good substitute. If you run out of Patriots, the missiles will get through.”