Pentagon calls for increased pace of weapons production

 

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Published 10.35

  

A US soldier near a US Patriot battery at a military base in Saudi Arabia. Archive photo. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP

The US Department of Defense is putting pressure on the country's defense industry to speed up the production and delivery of weapons, The Washington Post reports.

This is according to a memo that the newspaper has seen.

In it, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg addresses defense industry executives and urges them to - within 21 days - present plans for "significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production" of important weapons.

The call comes as a domestic debate is underway about the US weapons arsenal, after reports that the war in Iran has led to the country's stock of air defense missiles shrinking too quickly.