Strong concern is prevalent in Pentagon For low weapons stocks that the US will have in case possible future conflict with China According to a Wall Street Journal report, urging his rocket suppliers to double or even quadruple production rates.

The effort to accelerate the production of critical weapons with the highest demand has been implemented through a series of high -level meetings between Pentagon leaders and senior representatives from various US missile manufacturers, according to people who know the issue. In addition, they say that Deputy Defense Minister Steve Fayereg has taken on an unusually active role in the effort, called the ammunition acceleration board, and calls on some company executives weekly to discuss it.

The ministry invited the leading rocket suppliers to a round table in June to the Pentagon to begin industry’s effort. At the meeting, attended by the Minister of Defense, Pitt Hegsheth And General Dan Cain, president of the Army Common Staff, were executives from various weapons manufacturers, new entrants such as Anduril Industries, and few suppliers of major components such as promotional rockets and batteries.

“President Trump and Minister Hegschez are exploring excellent ways to expand our military power and speed up the production of ammunition,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnel said when asked about efforts. “This effort was the result of cooperation between leaders of the defense industry and senior Pentagon officials.”

Some people involved in this effort, both inside and outside the government, are worried that The goals of the government are not realistic. Complete assembly of individual rockets can take two years. It may take several months and hundreds of millions of dollars to test and designate weapons by new suppliers as safe and reliable for use by members of the US Armed Forces.

There are also questions about the money needed to accelerate production. Although the “big, beautiful” bill by Trump, signed in July, provided additional funding for ammunition of $ 25 billion For a five -year period, analysts argue that Pentagon’s plans will cost tens of billions more.

Defense contractors, such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, say they have already responded by adding workers, expanding factories and increasing spare parts reserves to prepare for a possible increase in demand. However, some suppliers find it difficult to achieve new goals and are cautious about wasting money on orders that the government has not yet funded.

Christopher Paulo, chairman and chief executive of RTX, Raytheon’s motherboard, one of the largest ammunition companies in the army, said in a letter to the Pentagon on July 3 that he was ready to work with the Ministry of Defense to increase production but warned that The company will need additional money and commitments from the Pentagon to buy more ammunition.

Military officials, however, are concerned about the US’s ability to increase weapons production after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Biden government has begun an attempt to increase ammunition production and smooth out supplies in the 2023 chain.

New rocket orders have since not been able to keep up with the increasing use of expensive interceptic missiles, including Patriot, to defend Ukraine by the growing Russian bombing. US officials want more of these interceptic rockets on the alert to protect bases and allies in the Pacific area.

By June, the Trump government had set even more aggressive production targets. However, the US then launched hundreds of high -tech missiles during the 12 -day collision between Israel and Iran, further exhausting their missile arsenal.

According to the report, The Pentagon focuses on 12 weapons He wants to have a possible conflict with China, some of the sources mentioned. The list includes Patriot intercept rockets, large-scale missiles, Standard Missile-6, precision missiles and Joint Air-Earface Standoff missiles. Patriot is a special priority because Lockheed has difficulty keeping up with increasing global demand.

In September, the US Army granted nearly $ 10 billion to Lockheed to build nearly 2,000 PAC -3 missiles from the financial year 2024 to 2026. The Pentagon wants suppliers to produce the same Patriot number each year – almost four times the current production rate.

Also, the Pentagon calls for a greater production of a Boeing detector and is mounted on the nose of the rocket. Boeing hastened this summer to calculate how much order it could satisfy and recently completed a 35,000 -square -foot expansion project in its factory, which is still equipped with new assembly equipment.

A Boeing spokesman said monthly Seeker aircraft deliveries have set a new record and that the company plans to further increase production.