President Donald Trump is set to host a meeting with Pentagon leaders and the heads of major American defence contractors on Wednesday, aiming to accelerate the production of missiles and other munitions that have been heavily expended during nearly four months of military operations against Iran. The gathering, confirmed by the White House, will include firms such as RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, L3Harris, Northrop Grumman and Honeywell Aerospace, according to US media reports. Trump has separately stated that automotive manufacturers with spare capacity, including General Motors and Ford, are negotiating agreements to manufacture weapons, specifically Patriot air-defence missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The president last week invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, citing “systemic limitations in the munitions industrial base,” to empower the Pentagon to enter voluntary agreements with private companies to boost output.

Viewed from Washington, the push reflects an effort to diversify and rapidly expand the defence industrial base after a conflict that, according to US television networks, consumed nearly half of the country’s Patriot missile stockpile and roughly 30 percent of its Tomahawk inventory within the first seven weeks. A White House spokesperson maintained that the armed forces possess “more than enough” munitions to meet all strategic objectives, while the Pentagon has already reached preliminary understandings with manufacturers to increase production of these systems. However, Congressional sources indicate that the necessary funding has not yet been approved. The administration has proposed a record $1.5 trillion military budget for the 2027 fiscal year, a 42 percent increase over the previous year, with $52.9 billion earmarked for expanding output of twelve key munition types.

Automotive industry representatives, speaking to the Russian business daily Kommersant, have expressed caution, noting that shifting car plants to weapons production entails significant costs and logistical challenges and cannot be accomplished quickly. They also pointed to uncertainty created by the administration’s own tariff policies as a factor complicating decisions on factory locations. Meanwhile, Trump has signalled that he is considering licensed production of American missiles in Europe and Ukraine, a move that would mark a further internationalisation of the supply chain. Analysts in London note that the administration’s drive to involve commercial manufacturers predates the Iran war and is part of a long-standing ambition to create surge capacity for munitions, a concern sharpened by the earlier drain on stockpiles from military aid to Ukraine.

The meeting on Wednesday is expected to produce voluntary action plans under the Defense Production Act, though any large-scale repurposing of automotive plants will require both Congressional appropriations and detailed industrial coordination. The Pentagon has separately indicated it plans to place $30.6 billion in orders for missiles and shells in the coming year, a 12 percent increase. The state of the dossier remains fluid: preliminary agreements with defence primes are in place, but the legislative branch has yet to act on the administration’s supplemental funding request, and negotiations with carmakers are still at an early stage.