The Pentagon has urged its missile suppliers to double or even quadruple their production amid critically short stockpiles and the potential for war with China, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Multiple Pentagon officials, including War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, met with industry leaders involved with missile technology to convey their ambitious target, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ. Pentagon officials and defense experts have long sounded the alarm of dwindling U.S. stockpiles of critical weapons, especially in the wake of an imminent invasion of Taiwan.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are exploring extraordinary avenues to expand our military might and accelerate the production of munitions,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the WSJ. “This effort has been a collaboration between defense industry leaders and senior Pentagon officials.”
The U.S. has spent a considerable amount of its existing stockpile in defense of Ukraine, with an estimated $66.9 billion worth of military aid flowing to the nation since Feb. 2022. The specific branches, like the U.S. Army, have also started their own initiatives to remedy weapons shortages partly caused by the war.
The Patriot missile, primarily supplied by the U.S., is the most commonly used interceptor in Ukraine. Israel’s 12-day war with Iran also depleted U.S. interceptors considerably.
The Pentagon’s aggressive targets for missile production may require more money than the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act could provide, analysts told the WSJ. The bill currently allocates $25 billion for five years of munitions funding.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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