Pentagon inks 7-year missile-production deal amid Iran war shortage
The Defense Department has been hammering out new agreements with top defense manufacturers as the Iran war has rapidly depleted Washington's interceptor stockpiles.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced on Monday that it had reached agreements with US defense manufacturers General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin to ramp up production of Patriot PAC-3 and THAAD missile interceptors over the next seven years.
The agreements are set to triple the production capacity of Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors and quadruple that of THAAD interceptors as well as dial up the manufacturing pace of components.
"General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin have answered the call. We are cutting red tape, shortening timelines, and rapidly scaling our domestic manufacturing capacity," the Pentagon's top official for acquisitions and sustainment, Michael Duffy, said in the press release from the Department of Defense.
The announcement comes amid reports that the US military planners have faced rapidly depleting stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors amid the war with Iran, which entered its sixth month late last week.
