The Pentagon has officially requested that defense industry leaders submit comprehensive plans to accelerate the production of critical weapons systems. This directive comes as experts warn that U.S. stockpiles have been significantly depleted following the ongoing war on Iran, a situation confirmed by a Defense Department official to on August 9.
A pivotal memorandum issued on August 5 by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, which was first reported by The Washington Post, mandates that defense firms provide actionable strategies within 21 days. The goal of this initiative is to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities.”
In the memo, Feinberg emphasized the urgency of the current situation, stating, “Years-long development cycles are not acceptable. We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.” This directive underscores the administration’s push to modernize the defense industrial base to meet immediate operational demands.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the authenticity of the memo in a statement to. He noted that collaborating directly with industry leaders to boost production is a standard practice, though the current push is uniquely focused on speed and capacity.
Parnell further elaborated, “From day one under Secretary Hegseth, this Department has been focused on delivering generational change to the speed, capacity, and lethality of America’s defense industrial base and the Arsenal of Freedom. Deputy Secretary Feinberg is a generational leader in that effort, driving the hard work of fixing our broken, antiquated, and immensely complex acquisitions system so we can actually produce the weapons our warfighters need at the pace the threat demands.”
The urgency follows reports from Reuters on August 4, citing anonymous sources, which claimed the U.S. Army has exhausted much of its stockpile of long-range precision missiles, specifically Army Tactical Missile Systems and Precision Strike Missiles, during the five-month conflict. Two sources indicated the war has consumed “virtually all” of those specific munitions.
These long-range munitions are critical for striking targets at extended distances with high precision. While Pentagon officials have publicly dismissed these reports of shortages as “false,” and President Donald Trump asserted on August 6 that the United States maintains a “virtual unlimited supply” of missiles, independent analysis suggests a different reality.
A study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) indicates that the United States has utilized approximately half of its Patriot interceptor, Precision Strike, and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile inventories. Additionally, about one-third of the Tomahawk long-range ground-attack missile inventory has been expended since the conflict began.
Mark F. Cancian, the lead author of the CSIS analysis, warned that remaining inventories could reach a critical state of exhaustion if the war continues for several more months. He previously told that while the U.S. can sustain the current conflict for some time, the Joint Chiefs of Staff likely view the current situation as a “window of vulnerability” regarding potential future conflicts, such as a scenario involving China.
The replenishment of these stockpiles is expected to be a protracted process due to significant manufacturing constraints. The CSIS analysis projects that the nation will not return to prewar defense missile levels until mid-2029, with Tomahawk missile levels not expected to recover until 2030 or 2031.
Kelly A. Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, highlighted the long-term strategic implications of this depletion. She noted that returning to prewar levels will take years, and even those prewar levels were already considered insufficient to meet global security requirements.
The shortage is attributed to several factors, including the inherent complexity of manufacturing these missiles, supply chain bottlenecks, and the fact that production decisions are often made years in advance. Furthermore, the high expenditure rate is driven by the necessity of firing two to three interceptors for every single incoming attack missile, with Iran estimated to have launched over 1,000 missiles during the war.
The missiles expended include hundreds of defensive interceptors used against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, as well as offensive missiles used in operations against Iran, during the raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and in strikes against other regional threats. Experts also noted that missile shortages are already impacting Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, while allies such as Japan, Taiwan, and Gulf states remain vulnerable to similar supply constraints.
Experts said estimates of missile stockpiles are based on procurement figures in federal budget documents and public disclosures about the weapons’ use in the war.
“It’s going to take years to get back up to the levels we had before we started this war, and that prewar level was already too low.”
Specific inventory numbers are classified, but CSIS estimates that about 65% of Patriot interceptors were expended between February and July, with less than 850 left on hand, down from 2,330 before the Iran war began.
The center is a think tank focused on global peace issues.
There are many reasons for the shortage in munitions.
