Pentagon asks defense firms to boost production of key systems

Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News on Aug 9, 2026

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The Pentagon’s No. 2 official asked major U.S. defense companies to accelerate efforts to produce and deliver key weapons systems amid new concerns about shortages and gaps exacerbated by the Iran war.

Steve Feinberg, the deputy secretary of defense, said the department is targeting accelerated or increased procurement for critical programs including wide-area surveillance, air-defense sensors and interceptors, and missile-tracking systems.

“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” he wrote in an Aug. 5 letter seen by Bloomberg to major defense companies, including Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and RTX Corp. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.” The Washington Post reported earlier on the letter.

There have been growing warnings about the state of U.S. weapons stockpiles as the U.S. military attacks Iran and repels its drone and missile strikes on American bases in the region.

President Donald Trump has denied the U.S. is running low on munitions, saying on Thursday the country has “massive amounts” of them, while warning of punishment for those who say there’s a shortage.

Even so, he also said the U.S. has some systems “where it’s a little bit tighter, and we’re getting them in on a daily basis,” although he didn’t provide any details.

In his letter, Feinberg focused on needs beyond those related to the Iran war, including satellite communications and next-generation air-defense systems. Another priority is Lockheed Martin’s Next Generation Interceptor, a program aimed at defending the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles. It’s a new warhead to replace the current ones used on U.S. missile interceptors in California and Alaska.

He asked companies to submit their plans by late August “for more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production capacity” in the critical programs he identified.

Feinberg’s memo to industry outlined “critical programs under consideration for acceleration or increased procurement” during the upcoming fiscal 2028 defense plan that focus on naval and land-based radar designed to enhance missile defense capabilities rather than additional specific missiles used against Iran.

The programs he cited include:

—RTX’s naval AN/SPY-6 air and missile defense radar installed on the Navy’s latest DDG-51 destroyers

—Lockheed Martin’s land-based AN/TPY-6 radar, originally intended to provide 360-degree coverage of Guam from Chinese missiles

—RTX’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, which is part of the air defense network guarding the US capital region

—Leidos Holdings Inc.’s Army Long-Range Persistent Surveillance radar network, which is starting to be deployed in the U.S. as part of the Golden Dome national missile defense network

—Boeing’s T-7A Red Hawk pilot training aircraft

—General Dynamics Corp.’s TAO-205 John Lewis class naval fleet refueling vessels

—Lockheed Martin’s Infrared Search and Track targeting pod for the F-15 fighter

—National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, built by Kongsberg and RTX. The system has been supplied by the U.S. to Ukraine.

—RTX’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency Terminal, the ground-based link to the U.S. satellite constellation, providing jam-resistant communications to the military and national leadership

Feinberg asked industry leaders in their responses to outline the capital expenditures and facilities expenditures they will make to “support the department’s commitment to higher volume, sustained orders.”

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