High-ranking representatives of the Department of Defense (War) are in talks about the production of weapons and other military supplies with the management of several companies, including General Motors and Ford Motor, sources told WSJ.
The Pentagon would like companies to use their employees and production capacity to increasing the production of weapons and other equipment against the background of decreasing stocks in connection with the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
“WSJ” informants said that the talks were preliminary and multi-threaded started before the war against Iran, which Israel and the US started on February 28.
From automotive to defense. The US is looking for solutions
Representatives of the Department of Defense allegedly said that American producers may be needed to support companies from the defense sector. They were also asked whether these companies could quickly switch to work in this sector. Officials argued that increasing weapons production would issue of national security.
An official from the Pentagon noted that the ministry is interested in the rapid expansion of the defense industry base and wants to use all available solutions for this purpose.
The Trump administration has reached out to U.S. automakers in the past. GM and Ford partnered with healthcare companies to produce ventilators at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The daily recalled that during World War II Detroit automakers stopped car production, switching to bombers, aircraft engines and trucks.
USA with a record defense budget?
The proposal assumes USD 1.1 trillion. for the Pentagon and $350 billion. among others for critically important weapons and activities aimed at expanding the defense industry. At the same time, Trump would like to see spending on non-military purposes drop by about 10%. This would be the largest military budget in modern history. Trump's proposed budget must be approved by Congress.
