WASHINGTON — Defense executives are set to meet with Trump administration officials Friday to discuss plans to replenish munitions and other weaponry expended in Iran, as well as a possible supplemental funding request that could soar north of $50 billion, according to a White House official and another source familiar with the discussions.
President Donald Trump is expected to attend the meeting, which is meant to include the major defense primes, as well as other large contractors that make solid rocket motors and other components used to manufacture missiles, the second source said.
Administration officials are expected to stress the need for industry to invest their own capital to accelerate production rates of key weapons ahead of final contract awards, that source added.
L3Harris confirmed to Breaking Defense that they had been invited. Other major defense firms either declined to comment on their plans or have yet to respond to Breaking Defense’s query. Reuters first reported on the planned meeting Tuesday evening.
The meeting comes amid questions over the state of American munition stockpiles raised by a Wall Street Journal report that posited that dwindling weapons levels could limit US options as the conflict continues. Trump downplayed the issue Tuesday, saying US stockpiles were “never been higher or better.”
When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine briefed reporters at the Pentagon this morning, they also asserted that munitions stockpiles are not currently a concern, in part, because US forces are switching up which weapons they use as they have more and more control of the Iranian airspace.
“We used more exquisite standoff munitions at the start, but no longer need to,” Hegseth said. “Our stockpiles of those, as well as Patriots, remains extremely strong.
“The enemy can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did not even close. … Our allies have plenty of runway. We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to,” he added.
Today, Caine explained, the conflict is aimed at dismantling Iran’s ability to “project power outside of its borders” by first targeting Iran’s ballistic missile systems and its naval assets. He announced that a US submarine fired a torpedo that hit and sank an Iranian warship.
As of this morning, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has assessed that Iran’s military is firing 86 percent fewer theater ballistic missile shots than on the first day, while their shots at one-way attack drones are by 73 percent, Caine added. CENTCOM has control of the skies across the southern flank of the Iranian coast with plans to expand inland.
This combo, the general furthered, means that CENTCOM is now at a “point of munitions transition” where it is shifting from large “deliberate strike packages” with standoff weapons towards stand-in precision weapons. This includes moving to Joint Direct Attack Munitions — a GPS guidance kit for dumb bombs in the 500-lbs, 1000-lbs and 2000-lbs classes — and Hellfire missiles, Hegseth and Caine said.
“This will allow the joint force to deliver significantly increased precision effects on the target,” Caine said.
“We have sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense, but I want to tell you teammates as a matter of practice,” he later added, “I don’t want to be talking about quantities, and I know there’s been a great debate about that. I appreciate the interest, but just know that we consider that an operational security matter.”
‘Going As Fast As We Possibly Can’
While Republican lawmakers have largely emphasized the administration’s statements on munitions levels, Democrats have repeatedly questioned when weapon usage may become a problem.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing this morning, Pentagon acquisition czar Michael Duffey largely demurred when asked about ongoing efforts to replenish munitions stocks.
“Do you have the dollar value of munitions that we’ve expended so far in this war with Iran?” asked Rep. Chris DeLuzio, D-Penn.
“I don’t have that,” Duffey said.
“Is there communication across the department so that you know the needs for the [military] branches?” DeLuzio asked.
“We’ve been working this problem set on munitions supply long before this conflict, and while it’s certainly useful for folks within the department to know what that level is, my job is to maximize our production independent of our supply,” Duffey said. “And I think knowledge of our supply wouldn’t make me go faster. We’re going as fast as we possibly can.”
“Are you part of analysis or discussions about the speed at which we need to replenish what is being expended right now?” DeLuzio asked.
“Every day,” Duffey said.
After an all-Senate briefing on Iran Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s air and land subpanel, told reporters that administration officials indicated that they are in “a pretty good spot” with regard to munitions.
“It’s tracking appropriately based on both the needs in that current conflict as well as other theaters that we have to be watchful for,” he said. “But also, I don’t think there’s any doubt that we need to manufacture [and] produce at a much faster rate.”
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., the top Democrat on the airland subcommittee, said that munitions levels were a “big concern” for him as the conflict continues.
“The Iranians do have the ability to make a lot of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles — medium range, short range — and they’ve got a huge stockpile. So at some point — we’re probably already in this — this becomes a math problem,” he told reporters in a stakeout following the briefing.
Asked whether he would support a supplemental funding request, Kelly said he would “take a close look” at any proposal.
“I want to make sure that our service members and US citizens in the region are protected,” he said.