- President Trump said defense companies are building 18 munitions plants
- DOW has signed a series of munitions production agreements with industry
- Fiscal year 2027 defense budget request totals $1.5 trillion
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that 18 munitions plants are under construction by defense companies, with some of the facilities nearing completion.
Trump made the remarks during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said the U.S. is adding to its munitions stockpiles faster than at any point in the past.
“Some of them, very quickly, will be completed. They’re almost there. And that rapid construction will be leading to very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type, and we’ll be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we’re doing right now,” the president said.
Which Companies Are Building New Munitions Plants?
Trump did not name the plants or the companies building them. Separately, defense companies have announced several new munitions production facilities, including sites in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Virginia.
Lockheed Martin broke ground in May on a munitions production center in Troy, Alabama. The facility will add 87,000 square feet of production space for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors and future Next Generation Interceptor work. The company also broke ground on a munitions acceleration center in Camden, Arkansas. That groundbreaking followed a framework agreement with the Department of War to raise THAAD interceptor production capacity from 96 to 400 per year. In June, Lockheed received a potential $35 billion undefinitized contract action to implement the framework agreement and increase THAAD interceptor production.
RTX‘s Raytheon business is investing in Tomahawk production facilities in Tucson, Arizona, as part of $2.6 billion in capital expenditures RTX made in 2025. Raytheon is also partnering with Nammo to expand Nammo’s site in Perry, Florida, with new lines for solid rocket motors used in several Raytheon missile programs. The Perry expansion is expected to be operational in 2027.
L3Harris Technologies has announced plans for a large solid rocket motor production campus in Camden, Arkansas. The company is also investing $25 million to add 130,000 square feet for solid rocket motor production in Huntsville, Alabama, and has announced a more than $1 billion expansion of its solid rocket motor site in Orange County, Virginia.
Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace broke ground on its first U.S. missile production facility in James City County, Virginia. The facility will build the Naval Strike Missile and Joint Strike Missile, with manufacturing expected to begin in late 2027.
What Munitions Deals Has DOW Signed With Defense Companies?
The plant construction comes amid a series of framework and procurement agreements DOW has signed with industry in 2026 to increase munitions output.
In February, Raytheon entered into five framework agreements with DOW. Under those agreements, annual production will grow to more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles, at least 1,900 AMRAAMs and more than 500 Standard Missile-6 interceptors. The Navy later awarded Raytheon a $22.9 billion multiyear contract to accelerate Tomahawk production.
In May, DOW signed framework agreements with Anduril, Leidos, CoAspire and Zone 5 to expand production of low-cost cruise missiles under the Low-Cost Containerized Munitions program. It signed a separate agreement with Castelion covering the Blackbeard hypersonic missile, with a guaranteed minimum of 500 missiles per year once testing and validation are complete. In July, the department reached agreements with Anduril, CoAspire and Zone 5 to accelerate testing and qualification of air-launched cruise missiles under the Air Force’s Family of Affordable Mass Missiles program.
The Pentagon has also worked to strengthen the interceptor supply chain. In July, it signed two seven-year agreements with L3Harris to expand propulsion production for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, or PAC-3 MSE, interceptor and the THAAD system. In August, it followed with $3 billion in agreements with Northrop Grumman that establish Northrop as a second PAC-3 MSE solid rocket motor source and increase production of THAAD structural components.
The department also signed framework agreements with Boeing and RTX covering components for the Standard Missile-3 Block IB and Block IIA interceptors. It later entered into seven-year procurement agreements with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Lockheed for PAC-3 MSE and THAAD subcomponents. Most recently, DOW and Lockheed agreed to expand production of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile.
How Is the Defense Production Act Supporting Munitions Production?
In June, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, or DPA, to set up a framework for munitions manufacturers to coordinate with DOW on supply chain, production and industrial base issues through voluntary agreements.
In a presidential memorandum, Trump found that weaknesses across the munitions industrial base could hinder U.S. efforts to produce and sustain missiles, munitions and related equipment. The memo cited fragile supply chains, constrained production capacity and dependence on long-lead items. It delegated authority under DPA Section 708 to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, a two-time Wash100 awardee, to establish voluntary agreements and plans of action with industry.
Michael Cadenazzi, DOW’s assistant secretary for industrial base policy, said the framework allows companies across the munitions supply chain to share information on workforce, engineering, materials and qualification challenges, Breaking Defense reported. He added that the authority will also support efforts to increase solid rocket motor capacity.
How Much Is the Administration Requesting for Defense?
Trump also said the U.S. invested more in its military over the past 12 months than in any prior period, and that military investment will reach $1.5 trillion.
In April, DOW released the president’s fiscal year 2027 defense budget, which requests $1.5 trillion, a 42 percent increase over current funding levels. The request combines $1.15 trillion in discretionary funding with $350 billion in mandatory funding through the budget reconciliation process, according to a White House fact sheet.
The House Armed Services Committee unveiled a $1.15 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act in May, and the full House passed the bill in July. Congress has not advanced the $350 billion reconciliation request, according to Breaking Defense.
