Army re-evaluating munitions procurement goals as Iran war continues

A mockup of a PAC-3 interceptor missile at Lockheed Martin's display at AUSA 2026. Bradley Peniston / Defense One

Buying more Patriot missiles is a top priority, the Army’s fires acquisition boss said.

The Army’s procurement goals for critical munitions could be shifting, officials said Tuesday in a break from the U.S. government’s typical reticence to talk about the enormous expenditure of weapons during the Trump administration's war on Iran .

Increasing annual production of Patriot air defense missiles, particularly the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement , is high on the priority list, Gen. Frank Lozano , the Army’s fires portfolio acquisition executive, said during a panel at the AUSA annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

“Our goal has always been to get to 2,000, and we've had a lot of discussions about even more interceptors,” he said, “but when we start talking about overall missile output and we start looking at numbers—is it 4,000, is it 6,000, is it 8,000—we're looking at a diverse set of capabilities. Because we have to address the threat, and we need to address the threat in a complementary way, meaning we need to fight on a cost curve that's affordable for the U.S. Army to maintain and sustain that warfighting capability abroad.”

Lozano addressed reports of depleted stockpiles by repeating the government’s insistence that all is well.

“We have to win everywhere, and so when you have to win everywhere, you need to really make sure that from a foundational aspect of the joint force, you have enough depth within your magazine, from from a varying perspective of capabilities, that you're able to contribute to that joint fight in a meaningful way,” he said. “I will continue to double down and echo what our department leadership has stated: we have the capabilities we need to have to fight and win, but it's our job to ensure that victory is achievable in the future inside of any dynamic environment, scenario, fight we might find ourselves in.”

The Army is also “looking into” buying PAC-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical , he said.

“Should we buy GEM-Ts? Because they're being produced,” Lozano said. “And so, if it's an effector that's available now, and GEM-Ts are a really good missile in the battle space [in which] they operate…so if we have the opportunity, it's probably something we should take advantage of, and we’re looking into doing that.”

The Army’s ability to scale some of these procurement programs will depend on funding from Congress, said Brent Ingraham , the Army’s civilian acquisition chief.

“We are looking every day, depending on where the budget lands, what a top line looks like, whether it's a r econciliation or not,” Ingraham said. “We have prioritized the missions that we truly need, we think about today and the near future…and so, depending on where the budget ends up, we will have to do some work to reprioritize our systems to focus on those key initiatives.”

Help us report on the future of national security . Contact Meghann Myers: mmyers@defenseone.com, meghannmyers.55 on Signal.

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在2026年美国陆军协会（AUSA）年会上，洛克希德·马丁公司展台上展示的PAC-3拦截导弹模型。图片来源：Bradley Peniston / Defense One

陆军火力采购负责人表示，购买更多爱国者导弹是当务之急。

官员们周二表示，陆军对关键弹药的采购目标可能正在发生变化。这打破了美国政府一贯不愿谈及特朗普政府对伊朗战争期间巨额武器开支的沉默。

陆军火力采购主管弗兰克·洛萨诺将军在华盛顿特区举行的美国陆军协会年会的一个小组讨论会上表示，提高爱国者防空导弹的年产量，特别是PAC-3导弹段增强型，是当务之急。

“我们的目标一直是达到2000枚拦截弹，我们也讨论过更多拦截弹的问题，”他说，“但当我们开始讨论导弹总产量，开始研究具体数字——是4000枚、6000枚还是8000枚——我们需要考虑的是一系列不同的作战能力。因为我们必须应对威胁，而且我们需要以互补的方式来应对威胁，这意味着我们需要控制成本，使美国陆军能够负担得起在海外维持和保持这种作战能力。”

针对有关库存耗尽的报道，洛萨诺重申了政府的说法，即一切安好。

“我们必须在所有战场上都取得胜利，因此，当必须在所有战场上都取得胜利时，就必须确保联合部队的基础性力量，从各种不同的能力角度来看，都拥有足够的深度，从而能够以有意义的方式为联合作战做出贡献，”他说道。“我将继续强调并重申我们部门领导层所作的表态：我们拥有作战和取胜所需的能力，但我们的职责是确保在未来任何动态的环境、场景和战斗中，都能取得胜利。”

他还表示，陆军也在“考虑”购买 PAC-2 制导增强型战术导弹。

“我们应该购买GEM-T导弹吗？因为它们正在生产，”洛萨诺说。“所以，如果这种导弹现在就能买到，而且GEM-T导弹在它们作战的战场上确实是一种非常优秀的导弹……所以如果我们有机会，我们或许应该抓住这个机会，我们正在考虑这样做。”

陆军文职采购主管布伦特·英格拉姆表示，陆军能否扩大其中一些采购项目的规模，将取决于国会的拨款。

“我们每天都在关注预算最终结果，看看总预算是多少，是否需要进行预算核算，”英格拉姆说。“我们已经优先考虑了真正需要的任务，着眼于当下和近期……因此，根据预算最终结果，我们将不得不重新调整系统优先级，以便专注于这些关键举措。”

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