The Pentagon asked industry how fast it could make more weapons. The numbers remain private.

Twenty-six days after the Pentagon’s deadline for defense companies to propose faster weapons production , the Defense Department has not publicly disclosed how many companies responded or what production timelines they offered.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave industry leaders until Aug. 26 to submit plans for “significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” according to his Aug. 5 memo .

Feinberg directed companies to identify ways to accelerate production and delivery, propose capital investments and facility expansions and explain how the Pentagon could enable higher production.

The memo identified 16 critical programs under consideration for accelerated production or increased procurement. The responses were intended to inform the department’s fiscal 2028 budget request.

The request came as the use of U.S. weapons during the Iran war put pressure on stocks of air-defense interceptors and other precision munitions.

U.S. inventories of Patriot interceptors had fallen from about 2,330 before the war to between 759 and 827 by the end of July, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies analysis. THAAD stocks had fallen from 452 to between 234 and 278.

CSIS estimated production timelines of about 42 months for PAC-3 MSE interceptors and 53 months for THAAD interceptors.

The Pentagon did not respond to questions about how many companies responded to Feinberg’s request or whether the department had accepted or funded any of the proposals.

General Dynamics also declined to discuss its communications with the department.

“We are not able to comment on our communications with the Department of War,” a General Dynamics spokesman said.

Lockheed Martin, a major supplier of U.S. missile-defense systems, did not provide a specific production timeline in response to questions from Military Times.

“We continue to have dialogue with the U.S. government to deliver what the department is asking of us and our team is pushing to do even more, faster,” a Lockheed Martin spokesman said. “We’re making significant investments in our workforce, infrastructure and production capacity and working with key suppliers to accelerate delivery of the critical capabilities that strengthen America’s Arsenal of Freedom.”

U.S. forces conduct live-fire exercises involving Patriot missile launches at the Udari Range Complex, Kuwait, on Dec. 9, 2025. (U.S. Central Command)

Lockheed separately announced Thursday that it had received its first PAC-3 MSE housing components from GM Defense, 22 days after the companies signed a production contract. The company said the components, which can traditionally take months or years to produce, were manufactured using GM’s casting and machining capabilities.

Lockheed said it is investing $8 billion to $9 billion to expand munitions production, including new buildings, facility expansions and thousands of jobs at more than 20 U.S. sites. The company also said planned expansions will increase its munitions production and warehousing space by nearly 50%.

The company did not say whether those investments were submitted as part of Feinberg’s Aug. 5 request.

The Pentagon was already using framework agreements and contracts to accelerate production before Feinberg’s deadline.

On July 27, the department announced seven-year framework agreements intended to boost production of propulsion components for PAC-3 MSE and THAAD interceptors. L3Harris said its PAC-3 agreement would nearly triple production of certain propulsion products, while its THAAD agreement was intended to quadruple production of key propulsion components.

On Aug. 3, the defense department, in cooperation with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, announced two framework agreements to expand production capacity for critical PAC-3 and THAAD interceptor components. The agreements were intended to support the department’s goals of tripling PAC-3 production capacity and quadrupling THAAD production capacity.

On Aug. 14, DoD announced two separate framework agreements with Boeing and RTX to increase production of components for SM-3 Block IB and SM-3 Block IIA interceptors.

On Aug. 17, the Pentagon announced a $22.9 billion Navy contract with RTX to accelerate production of Tomahawk missiles.

On Aug. 31, five days after the industry deadline, the Pentagon announced additional seven-year multiyear procurement agreements with Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics designed to increase production quantities and accelerate delivery schedules for critical missile subcomponents supporting PAC-3 MSE and THAAD.

The Pentagon separately identified production goals of tripling PAC-3 MSE production capacity and quadrupling THAAD production capacity, with funding subject to annual appropriations from Congress.

The public announcements did not identify those agreements as resulting from companies’ responses to Feinberg’s Aug. 5 request.

What remains unclear is whether the 21-day exercise changed what the Pentagon plans to buy, how quickly it expects industry to deliver it or what additional funding and infrastructure the department will seek in its fiscal 2028 budget request.

Natalie Oliverio is an independent journalist and Navy veteran who covers military and veterans’ issues. Drawing on her experience as a talent executive and mentor, she writes about the policies, people and programs shaping the military community.

在五角大楼要求国防公司提出加快武器生产方案的最后期限过去 26 天后，国防部仍未公开披露有多少公司做出了回应，也没有透露他们提出的生产时间表。

根据国防部副部长史蒂夫·范伯格在 8 月 5 日的备忘录，他要求行业领导人在 8 月 26 日之前提交“更快、更积极的交付计划和/或提高关键能力产量”的计划。

费恩伯格指示各公司找出加快生产和交付的方法，提出资本投资和设施扩建方案，并解释五角大楼如何才能提高产量。

该备忘录列出了16个正在考虑加快生产或增加采购的关键项目。这些反馈意见旨在为该部门2028财年的预算申请提供参考。

提出这一请求的原因是，在伊朗战争期间，美国武器的使用给防空拦截器和其他精确制导武器的库存带来了压力。

根据战略与国际研究中心的一项分析，美国爱国者拦截导弹的库存量已从战前的约2330枚下降到7月底的759至827枚之间。萨德系统的库存量也从452枚下降到234至278枚之间。

CSIS 估计 PAC-3 MSE 拦截器的生产周期约为 42 个月，THAAD 拦截器的生产周期约为 53 个月。

五角大楼没有回应关于有多少家公司响应了范伯格的请求，以及该部门是否接受或资助了任何提案的问题。

通用动力公司也拒绝讨论其与该部门的沟通情况。

通用动力公司发言人表示：“我们无法对与美国战争部的沟通发表评论。”

美国导弹防御系统的主要供应商洛克希德·马丁公司在回应《军事时报》的询问时，没有提供具体的生产时间表。

洛克希德·马丁公司发言人表示：“我们正与美国政府保持对话，以满足国防部的要求，我们的团队也在努力加快速度，做得更多。我们正在对员工队伍、基础设施和生产能力进行大量投资，并与主要供应商合作，加快交付能够增强美国自由武器库的关键能力。”

2025年12月9日，美军在科威特乌达里靶场进行实弹演习，演习内容包括爱国者导弹发射。（美国中央司令部）

洛克希德·马丁公司周四另行宣布，已从通用汽车防务公司收到首批PAC-3 MSE发动机外壳组件。此前，两家公司签署了生产合同，仅用了22天时间。该公司表示，这些组件通常需要数月甚至数年才能生产完成，而此次是利用通用汽车的铸造和机械加工能力制造的。

洛克希德公司表示，将投资80亿至90亿美元扩大军火生产规模，包括在美国20多个地点新建厂房、扩建现有设施并创造数千个就业岗位。该公司还表示，计划中的扩建将使其军火生产和仓储空间增加近50%。

该公司没有说明这些投资是否是费恩伯格 8 月 5 日请求的一部分。

在范伯格设定的最后期限之前，五角大楼就已经开始利用框架协议和合同来加快生产速度。

7月27日，美国国防部宣布了一系列为期七年的框架协议，旨在提升PAC-3 MSE和THAAD拦截器的推进部件产量。L3Harris公司表示，其与PAC-3的协议将使某些推进产品的产量增加近三倍，而与THAAD的协议则旨在使关键推进部件的产量增加四倍。

8月3日，美国国防部与诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司和洛克希德·马丁公司合作，宣布了两项框架协议，旨在扩大PAC-3和THAAD拦截器关键部件的产能。这些协议旨在支持国防部将PAC-3产能提高三倍、将THAAD产能提高四倍的目标。

8 月 14 日，美国国防部宣布与波音公司和 RTX 公司分别签署两项框架协议，以增加 SM-3 Block IB 和 SM-3 Block IIA 拦截机的零部件产量。

8月17日，五角大楼宣布与RTX公司签订一份价值229亿美元的海军合同，以加快战斧导弹的生产。

8 月 31 日，在行业最后期限五天后，五角大楼宣布与洛克希德·马丁公司和通用动力公司签署额外的七年期多年采购协议，旨在增加生产数量并加快支持 PAC-3 MSE 和 THAAD 的关键导弹子部件的交付进度。

五角大楼另行确定了生产目标，将 PAC-3 MSE 的生产能力提高三倍，将 THAAD 的生产能力提高四倍，资金取决于国会的年度拨款。

公开声明并未指出这些协议是各公司对费恩伯格 8 月 5 日请求的回应所致。

目前尚不清楚的是，为期 21 天的演习是否改变了五角大楼的采购计划、对行业交付速度的预期，以及该部门将在 2028 财年预算申请中寻求哪些额外的资金和基础设施。

娜塔莉·奥利维里奥是一位独立记者，也是一位海军退伍军人，她主要报道军事和退伍军人相关议题。凭借其作为人才主管和导师的经验，她撰写有关塑造军事社区的政策、人物和项目的文章。