U.S. Department of War warns of limited capacity to increase weapons production in a crisis
The US Department of War warned that the defense industrial base lacks reserve capacity to rapidly increase production of key weapons and munitions during a crisis. Its Manufacturing Technology Program Strategic Plan for fiscal 2026–2031, published September 30, identifies castings, forgings and microelectronics as vulnerable supply-chain bottlenecks linked to consolidation, offshoring and underinvestment. The proposed response includes additive manufacturing, robotics, distributed certified production, cold-spray repairs and digital process monitoring to accelerate qualification and sustainment. The strategy also calls for pilot-scale demonstrations, workforce development and transfer of qualified manufacturing processes into production, addressing adoption barriers alongside the supply-chain weaknesses.