US defence officials have approached General Motors and Ford Motor Company about shifting some of their factories to weapons production, according to the Wall Street Journal, in one of the clearest signs yet that the Iran war is pushing Washington toward a broader industrial mobilisation.
Executives from both carmakers have held preliminary discussions with Pentagon officials about whether certain assembly lines and personnel could be switched to making missiles, drones, and tactical equipment. The outreach also includes GE Aerospace and machinery producer Oshkosh.
The move reflects growing concern in Washington that the US defence industrial base, built largely for peacetime deterrence, cannot meet demand generated by the war in Iran and sustained support to Ukraine. Officials are weighing whether commercial manufacturers can shore up supply chains while traditional prime contractors scale up.
The Pentagon has not invoked the Defense Production Act, which allows the federal government to compel private industry to produce goods deemed critical to national security. Stephen Feinberg, the deputy defence secretary, raised the prospect of drawing automakers into the defence industrial base during his Senate confirmation hearing in early 2025, arguing the move would deepen competition and expand manufacturing capacity.
Pentagon Framework Deals Signal Wartime Footing
The Department of Defense announced a slate of framework agreements with BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Honeywell Aerospace on 25 March to accelerate production of defence systems and munitions, per Reuters.
These agreements commit BAE and Lockheed to quadrupling the output of seekers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor, while a separate Lockheed framework will speed up production of the Precision Strike Missile. Honeywell Aerospace is putting £395 million ($500 million) of its own capital into expanding manufacturing capacity for navigation systems, actuators, and electronic warfare components.
Under earlier multi-year arrangements, Lockheed agreed to lift annual THAAD interceptor production from 96 to 400 units and to triple PAC-3 Patriot interceptor output from 600 to 2,000 over seven years. RTX subsidiary Raytheon has pledged to raise annual SM-6 missile production above 500, with Tomahawk cruise missile output rising to 1,000 per year.
The framework deal came after a White House meeting earlier in March, when President Donald Trump sat down with chief executives from seven major defence firms, including Lockheed, RTX, BAE, Boeing, Honeywell, L3Harris Missile Solutions, and Northrop Grumman. Production rates and delivery schedules topped the agenda.
Michael Duffey, the undersecretary of war for acquisition and sustainment, described the BAE agreement as a 'clear, stable, long-term demand signal' for the industry.
'We are providing the certainty our partners need to invest, expand, and hire. This is how we place the industrial base on a wartime footing,' he said.
Hegseth Seeks $200 Billion to Refill US Arsenal
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has confirmed the Pentagon asked the White House for roughly £158 billion ($200 billion) in supplemental funding, though he warned the figure could move.
'It takes money to kill bad guys,' Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon briefing, saying the funds were needed to ensure US munitions stockpiles were 'not just refilled, but above and beyond,' Time said.
Hegseth: As far as the $200 billion. I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes it takes money to kill bad guys. pic.twitter.com/uN3L6vw08k
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 19, 2026
The current conflict began on 28 February, when Washington and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian military targets. The US military has hit more than 9,000 sites in Iran since then. An earlier 12-day confrontation with Iran in June 2025 saw between 100 and 150 THAAD interceptors expended against an annual production of just 96 units.
Trump signed an executive order on 7 January blocking defence contractors from stock buybacks and dividend payments during periods of underperformance. The order warned that production delays were a threat to national security.
'Military equipment is not being made fast enough,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post accompanying the directive.
The Acquisition Transformation Strategy, released by the Pentagon in November 2025, set out the blueprint for shifting US weapons manufacturing onto a wartime footing. In a further step to ease bottlenecks, officials have begun contracting directly with subcontractors in some cases, bypassing prime contractors.
General Motors and Ford have not commented publicly on the talks. GE Aerospace and Oshkosh have not issued a statement either.
