The Pentagon is asking U.S. defense contractors to accelerate weapons production and shorten delivery timelines as the military works to restore munitions inventories reduced during the conflict with Iran.

Defense companies were given no more than 21 days to provide proposals for increasing output or delivering critical weapons systems more quickly, according to a Wednesday memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg obtained by The Washington Post. Feinberg said existing development timelines need to be shortened and production capacity expanded. The directive calls on contractors to identify ways to move programs forward at a significantly faster pace.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the memo Saturday and said the Defense Department had intensified efforts during the previous week to speed munitions procurement. He said the initiative is also part of a broader effort to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base that began before the five-month-old conflict.

The Pentagon plans to use the industry's responses as it develops its fiscal 2028 budget request, according to Parnell. The push comes as inventories of some advanced missile-defense weapons remain well below their prewar levels.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated last month that the U.S. had about 2,330 Patriot interceptors before the war. By the time an April ceasefire began, that figure had fallen to approximately 1,030.Following additional fighting, CSIS estimated the remaining Patriot inventory at between 759 and 827 interceptors. At the upper end of that range, the stockpile would still be at least 65% below its prewar level.

THAAD interceptor inventories have also declined. CSIS estimated that the U.S. held 452 before the war and between 232 and 262 when the April ceasefire started. Subsequent replenishment raised the estimated total to between 234 and 278, leaving the inventory at least 38% below its prewar level.

According to the CSIS analysis, reduced supplies of Patriot and THAAD interceptors could require the U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East to conserve those systems if hostilities resume. That could mean using fewer defensive missiles against incoming Iranian drones and missiles, increasing the possibility that some threats get through.

President Donald Trump has pushed back against reports that U.S. weapons supplies are running short. In a Thursday Truth Social post, Trump said the country has “massive amounts” and that additional weapons are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.

The production effort is unfolding as Congress considers future defense funding. A defense spending bill remains stalled amid opposition from lawmakers over Trump's military action against Iran and resistance to a White House request to increase Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion from about $900 billion last year.

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