Trump says US defence firms to quadruple output of some weapons

Follow our live coverage here.

US President Donald Trump said the largest American defence manufacturers had agreed to boost production of some weapons following a meeting at the White House, amid worries that the war against Iran is depleting the Pentagon’s stockpiles.

“We just concluded a very good meeting with the largest US Defense Manufacturing Companies where we discussed Production and Production Schedules,” he said in a social media post on March 6. “They have agreed to quadruple Production of the ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity.”

“Exquisite class” likely refers to sophisticated, hard-to-produce missiles capable of destroying the most complex targets. Such weapons include the RTX’s Standard Missile-6 and Tomahawk weapons, and Lockheed Martin’s latest model Patriot Missile, called the MSE.

Mr Trump said he had met chief executive officers “of BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon” – and that there were plans to schedule another meeting “in two months”.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the defence firms had signed on to new commitments on March 6. Companies that participated in the meeting said they supported the president’s goal to speed deliveries to the US military, but offered few specifics of new production plans. Northrop Grumman said in a statement that it continues to “grow production capacity and deliver mission-ready technologies for the nation’s warfighters”.”

Lockheed Martin said it has agreed to “quadruple critical munitions production,” work it began months ago with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg. “We are moving with urgency, and we will deliver,” the company said in a statement.

RTX said it is committed to accelerating output of five key munitions under agreements it reached with the Pentagon in February.

The Pentagon referred questions about the specifics of any agreements to the White House.

Even though the meeting underscored the need to step up production of critical weapons systems, Mr Trump sought to downplay concerns about the country’s arsenal.

“We have a virtually unlimited supply of Medium and Upper Medium Grade Munitions, which we are using, as an example, in Iran, and recently used in Venezuela. Regardless, however, we have also increased Orders at these levels,” he wrote.

Any additional funding for weapons, however, would be a heavy lift in Congress and could take weeks, if not months, for approval.

Mr Trump’s meeting with defence industry executives came hours after he called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” dampening hopes for a quick end to the war. The conflict is now poised to enter its second week with no clear end in sight. The US and Israel have been striking targets in Iran with Tehran retaliating with drone and missile strikes at neighbouring countries that host American military personnel.

The White House had earlier on March 6 pushed back on worries that munitions are thinning. 

“The US military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to continue demolishing the Iranian regime and achieve the goals of Operation Epic Fury,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “Nevertheless, President Trump has always been intensely focused on strengthening our military, which is why this meeting with defense contractors was scheduled weeks ago.” 

Before the US and Israel began bombarding Iran, Mr Trump repeatedly chastised top defence companies for spending too little on weapons production and too much on dividends and stock buybacks. The gap between supply and demand – particularly for popular defensive weapons like Patriot interceptors – has grown wider with each barrage of Iranian-made missiles and drones lobbed over Dubai and Doha. 

In the months before the conflict, the Pentagon had struck seven-year framework agreements to rapidly scale production of Lockheed’s most advanced Patriot and THAAD interceptors along with RTX’s Tomahawk and other missiles.

Officials have also struck deals to accelerate production of Northrop’s stealthy B-21 bomber, and announced plans to invest US$1 billion in a potential IPO of an L3Harris division that builds solid rocket motors.

But those accords are unlikely to significantly boost supplies for the current conflict with Iran, whose ongoing salvos are drawing down missile-defense inventories.

Lockheed, for one, would need three years to triple PAC-3 output to a pace of 2,000 missiles a year from the present pace of about 600 interceptors, CEO Jim Taiclet said in January. Lockheed’s framework agreement is also preliminary and not yet an actual contract, said Tom Karako, director of the missile defence project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. BLOOMBERG