Bolstering Defense Production
Trump Invokes Cold War-Era DPA to Replenish US Munitions, Strengthen Defense Production
Anonymous
Key Points
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Trump’s memo (as reported) specifies that industrial-base vulnerabilities include bottlenecks in “critical components” such as “solid rocket motors, guidance systems, and missile igniters.”
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Reporting on the Iran campaign includes concrete consumption figures: the U.S. “used up nearly half of its stockpile of Patriot” interceptor missiles and “fired over 50 percent of Terminal High Altitude Area Defenses (THAADs)” during the seven-week strikes, according to a CSIS analysis referenced by The Hill.
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Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi said the administration wants the DPA “voluntary agreements” to become an “enduring capability”—adding, “So, expect to see more of these”—and CBS reports he had been working since around September to launch such an agreement.
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The DPA authorities Trump invoked also include a controversial flexibility: they allow companies to “collaborate in ways that could otherwise be seen as collusion or not competitive,” alongside federal order-prioritization powers.
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NBC reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Senate Republicans about the administration’s push for additional funding, and Sen. John Cornyn said the meeting was “primarily about funding for the department,” characterizing the Pentagon as “running short” to acquire needed weapons and missiles.
President Trump invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act on June 11, directing the Pentagon to rapidly expand weapons output after a seven-week U.S. military campaign against Iran burned through enormous missile stockpiles. The move came after the U.S. consumed nearly half its Patriot interceptor missiles and fired over 50% of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors during the strikes, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies analysis cited by The Hill.
The administration is now seeking roughly $350 billion in supplemental defense funding to replenish depleted inventories, The Hill reported. At current production rates, restoring some advanced missile stockpiles could take several years.
Iran Campaign Drains Half of Key U.S. Missile Stocks
The seven-week strikes against Iran acted as a brutal stress test for the U.S. defense industrial base. The CSIS analysis found the U.S. "used up nearly half of its stockpile of Patriot" interceptors and "fired over 50 percent" of its THAAD missiles, according to The Hill. Both systems are among the most advanced — and hardest to replace — in the U.S. arsenal.
Replacing those stockpiles is not simple or fast. The Trump memo, published in the Federal Register, points to specific choke points: solid rocket motors, guidance systems, and missile igniters. These are specialized parts with long manufacturing lead times. The Deep Dive reported that the White House is dealing with what officials describe as a full-blown "munitions production crisis."
Trump's DPA Memo Lets Defense Firms Skirt Antitrust Rules
The Defense Production Act of 1950 gives the President sweeping power over private industry in a national emergency. Trump's memo directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use two main tools: priority federal orders, which force companies to put government contracts at the front of the line, and "voluntary agreements" that let competing firms coordinate production in ways that would normally raise antitrust flags, IBTimes reported.
Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Cadenazzi said these agreements are not a one-time fix. "So, expect to see more of these," he told reporters, adding that he had been working since around September 2025 to stand up the first such agreement, according to The Hill. Critics have flagged the collaboration powers as potentially creating a "state-sponsored cartel" among the largest defense contractors.
Pentagon Warns Congress: Running Short on Weapons and Cash
Defense Secretary Hegseth went to Capitol Hill to brief Senate Republicans on the funding gap. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the meeting was "primarily about funding for the department" and characterized the Pentagon as "running short" on the weapons and missiles it needs, according to Just The News.
The $350 billion supplemental funding request now faces a legislative battle. The DPA gives Trump the power to direct production, but it does not provide money. Without new appropriations, defense firms can reorganize their production lines but cannot scale up fast enough to close the stockpile gap.
Iran Depletion Raises Alarm Over China Readiness
Officials and analysts are now connecting the Iran stockpile drawdown to a bigger worry: what would happen in a conflict with China. The systems burned through against Iran — long-range missiles, high-tier interceptors — are exactly what the U.S. would need in a large Pacific war. The Deep Dive noted that the CSIS analysis estimated at least a three-year timeline to restore prior stockpile levels for some of the most heavily used systems.
Cadenazzi's push for an "enduring capability" signals that the administration sees this not as a short-term patch but as a permanent shift in how the U.S. manages its defense supply chain. The DPA effort also links to upstream needs like critical minerals — the raw materials that go into every missile and interceptor the country builds, IBTimes reported.
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