President Trump has invoked a Cold War-era law to increase production of critical munitions, signaling US concerns about a potential shortfall in weapons after heavy usage in Iran.
The decision to use the Defense Production Act comes amid doubts that American weapons makers can meet increased demand.
According to a memo released Tuesday, Trump cited 'limited production capacity, fragile supply chains, long-lead dependencies, and related production bottlenecks' as reasons for invoking the act.
The US has fired over 1,000 long-range Tomahawk missiles and 1,500 to 2,000 critical air-defense missiles since the war with Iran began, with officials warning that completely replacing those stockpiles could take up to six years.
Trump last week summoned the CEOs of seven top munitions makers for a meeting at the White House, but the meeting was postponed due to developments in the Iran conflict.
Some administration officials think that the high munitions-expenditure rates could complicate the Pentagon's ability to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion in the near term.
