Pentagon presses defense firms to speed up weapons production amid Iran war shortages - report | LIVE BLOG
Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave defense contractors 21 days to submit plans for faster weapons delivery and production, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Post
While speaking with reporters on the Turkish news program, Editor Masasi, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Egypt is expected to join the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement alongside Turkish, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The agreement signed Friday stated that an attack on one of the nations would be as if all nations were attacked. The agreement follows a September mutual defense pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and a tension between Turkey and Israel continue to rise.
Several Iranian leaders have spoken out about the current state of affairs in the region. President Masoud Pezeshkian that now is best time for agreement as Iran is ‘strong, united and seen as victorious in war.’ Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran and Oman were very close to reaching an agreement on a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. Abbas says the reopening of Hormuz would depend on several conditions including that the US and Israel are prohibited from using it and that Iran would be compensated for US violations of the MoU. This all comes amid reports from CNN that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine has privately urged senior Trump administration officials to seek an “off-ramp” from the war with Iran, warning that available options for further military escalation could backfire. READ MORE FROM SATURDAY
Pentagon presses defense firms to speed up weapons production amid Iran war shortages - report
Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave defense contractors 21 days to submit plans for faster weapons delivery and production, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Post. Feinberg wrote, "Years-long development cycles are not acceptable. We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now."
In the first month of the Iran war alone, the US fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 1,000 Patriot and THAAD interceptors. The global Patriot inventory has fallen from 2,200 before the war to fewer than 827, and THAAD missiles from 452 to fewer than 278, according to CSIS.
The Pentagon has signed framework agreements with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to boost production of PAC-3 and THAAD missiles, and awarded Lockheed a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to triple PAC-3 production by 2030. But progress depends on Congress passing a $1.15 trillion defense spending bill that remains deadlocked.