Trump invokes Cold War-era law to boost munitions production

The White House is moving to accelerate U.S. munitions production after President Donald Trump signed a June 11 memo invoking the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law used to marshal industrial capacity for national defense needs.

The directive, first reported Tuesday, says conditions exist that may pose a direct threat to national defense or preparedness programs. It points to limited production capacity, fragile supply chains, long-lead dependencies and other bottlenecks that have slowed the flow of missiles and other munitions.

Trump’s memo delegates authority to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to pursue voluntary agreements with private industry. Those agreements can allow contractors to coordinate in ways that would normally be problematic in a competitive market, according to a U.S. defense official quoted in reporting on the move.

Why the administration is acting

The policy push comes as the administration worries about rebuilding weapons inventories after heavy use in Iran. According to the reporting, U.S. officials say more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles and 1,500 to 2,000 air-defense missiles, including THAAD, Patriot and Standard Missile interceptors, have been fired since the war began.

That backdrop has sharpened concerns about stockpile levels, the resilience of the defense-industrial base and the ability of suppliers to keep pace with demand. The memo is aimed at speeding production while also strengthening the supply chains that feed munitions manufacturing.

The Defense Production Act has long been used to push industry toward national-security priorities, and the new memo adds munitions to a list of recent federal supply-chain interventions that have included critical minerals, baby formula, vaccines and COVID-era shortages.

Industry pressure and next steps

The move also fits a broader push to pull in nontraditional manufacturers as defense firms try to expand output. Reporting this week said General Motors is in talks to supply weapons parts to Lockheed Martin, underscoring the search for additional industrial capacity.

Financial Times reporting likewise described GM and Lockheed Martin as collaborating to boost weapons production, including missile and air-defense systems. The broader trend suggests the Pentagon is looking beyond its traditional supplier base as it tries to increase throughput.

Lockheed Martin is already under pressure to raise missile and air-defense production, and the White House action could make it easier for contractors and suppliers to align on capacity and procurement planning. The memo’s emphasis on voluntary agreements is designed to make that kind of industrial coordination more practical.

What remains unclear is which munitions lines or components will be prioritized first, whether the administration will pair the directive with new funding or procurement orders, and which companies will enter formal agreements.

It is also not clear whether the memo has been posted in full on an official government site. Congress could still shape how much lasting expansion is possible through future appropriations and oversight.

For now, the move marks a formal federal effort to accelerate munitions output and reduce bottlenecks in a supply chain that the administration sees as increasingly strained.