Industry consolidation, depleted manufacturing lines and supply chain issues have constrained the production of basic ammunition along with adequate reserves of more sophisticated weapons. Pentagon struggles to make weapons fast enough for war:
A U.S. volunteer teaches Ukrainian soldiers how to use a Javelin missile at a base outside Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, April 28, 2022.
The Pentagon, the White House, Congress and military contractors are all taking steps to address the issues. If a large-scale war broke out with China, within about one week the United States would run out of so-called long-range anti-ship missiles, a vital weapon in any engagement with China, according to a series of war-game exercises conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
A recent fire disrupted the assembly line at one of the two remaining suppliers, Aerojet Rocketdyne, causing further delays in delivering the SM-6 and other precision missile systems, even as Pentagon orders for thousands of new missiles pile up. “At the end of the day, I want the magazines filled,” Caudle told contractors and Navy personnel in January, referring to the storage areas on his ships for guided missiles. “OK? I want the ships’ tubes filled.”
In 1993, Norman Augustine, then-CEO of Martin Marietta, one of the largest of the military contractors, received an invitation to a dinner with Defense Secretary Les Aspin, who was helping President Bill Clinton figure out how to shrink military spending. Soon enough, Martin Marietta acquired GE Aerospace and General Dynamics’ Space Systems, and then merged with California-based Lockheed Corp. to form what is now known as Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon briefly ramped up production to rebuild missile supplies, but it was a temporary move, said William A. LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense who oversees acquisition. Defense Department leaders, and lawmakers who set the budget, would often turn to missile programs to cut spending totals.
“It’s becomes very attractive when our budgets are being balanced, to balance them on the munitions funds, because it’s fungible money,” LaPlante said. “We really allowed production lines to go cold and watched as parts became obsolete.” The Biden administration this month proposed a 51% increase in the budget to buy missiles and munitions compared with 2022, reaching a total of $30.6 billion.
The surge in spending is likely to translate in the long run into increased profits at military contractors. But in the short term several of them, like Lockheed, continue to struggle to hire workers and eliminate shortages of key components needed to meet the Pentagon’s demand. Lockheed expects its revenues to remain flat this year, even as the federal government pushes up spending.
That team started with a focus on resupplying weapons sent to Ukraine, LaPlante said, but it has now been set up as a more permanent unit inside the Pentagon to help the Defense Department make an “overall shift away from the just-in-time mindset.” Aerojet has moved recently to expand its own rocket-engine plants in Arkansas and Alabama, where the company makes rocket motors for the SM-6 that the Navy is waiting for, as well as the PAC-3 missile, which Taiwan is waiting for as a defense against any incoming missile threats.
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