- The U.S. has 18 munitions factories under development, President Trump said Tuesday
- This is part of an effort to replenish the Pentagon’s munition stockpiles
- The Army in 2025 awarded a contact for a new 155mm artillery facility in Iowa
The U.S. has 18 munitions plants under construction with some of them close to being completed, President Donald Trump said Tuesday during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The goal is to rebuild the Pentagon’s supply of missiles and munitions.
“They’re almost there,” Trump said. “That rapid construction will be leading to a very rapid deployment of missiles and ammunition of every type. We’ll be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we are right now.”
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How Much is Lockheed Martin Spending to Meet Munitions Demand?
Lockheed Martin is investing $9 billion to meet growing munitions demand, the company said in July. It is spending more than $60 million for a new leased 150,000 sq. ft. leased facility in Jessup, Pennsylvania, to add production space and cable-and-harness manufacturing to support Precision Strike Missile, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and PAC-3 missiles.
Anduril is also building an autonomous systems and weapons hyperscale manufacturing facility outside Columbus, Ohio. Dubbed Arsenal-1, the facility will utilize a common set of commercial manufacturing, tooling, machinery and processes.
One of these munitions facilities under construction is being built at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. The Army in August 2025 awarded MSM Group North America a $635 million fixed-price-with-economic-price-adjustment contract to design, build and commission the Future Artillery Complex.
What Will the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant Develop?
The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant will develop current and future 155mm artillery and provide the service with a scalable and flexible explosive load facility. The campus will also feature 21st century manufacturing technology, leverage lean manufacturing principles and fully integrated system control and data acquisition systems.
The Department of War in February announced a groundbreaking of a munitions campus in Bloomfield, Indiana. Part of a 2023 contract awarded to ACMI Federal, this is a pilot initiative to scale production for defense manufacturers. The campus will centralize key elements of the munitions supply chain by collocating manufacturers of major components and subcomponents.
The Army is also developing a new research and manufacturing center at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, according to Interesting Engineering. This facility will focus on boosting production of both legacy and new explosives and will mainly produce Research Department Explosive, or RDX, and High Melting Explosive, or HMX, critical components of modern warheads and propellants. The campus is backed by almost $1 billion in federal funds included in the fiscal year 2026 defense spending bill.
Part of this munitions supply expansion is new deals with contractors. Lockheed Martin on Sept. 15 received a $1.2 billion award for an “early operational capability” PrSM Increment 2 system, according to Breaking Defense. The Pentagon in July expanded a contract with Lockheed Martin for new Patriot missiles, bringing the total value of a contract to nearly $59 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Why Did Trump Invoke the Defense Production Act?
Trump earlier this year invoked the Defense Production Act, establishing a framework that allows munition manufacturers to coordinate with the DOW on supply chain, production and industrial base challenges through voluntary agreements. He delegated authority to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, a two-time Wash100 awardee, under the Section 708 of the DPA to establish voluntary agreements and plans of action with industry to support national defense requirements.
Why Is the DOW Boosting its Munitions Supply Base?
The DOW is boosting its munitions supply base over concerns about heavy usage in Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported. The WSJ cited a Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank report that estimated munitions used in Iran would represent about 27 percent of Tomahawk stockpiles, nearly 23 percent of Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles, more than half of Patriot interceptors and about 80 percent of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles.
