The Pentagon has agreed to increase production of SM-3 missiles
The U.S. Department of Defense has signed agreements with American defense contractors Boeing and RTX to ramp up production of key components for the Standard Missile-3 Block IB and Block IIA missiles.
The goal is to strengthen production capacity for missile defense systems. The new agreements are intended to increase the output of components for SM-3 missiles designed to intercept ballistic targets.
Both agreements will help boost production of a series of critically important ship-based surface-to-air missiles, which form the backbone of the Aegis missile defense system and constitute the foundation of U.S. maritime missile defense both within the country and abroad.
“These agreements ensure that our military will receive the ammunition needed to win. We are stabilizing our supply chains, expanding ammunition production, and shifting our entire defense industrial base to wartime footing,” said Michael P. Duffy, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.
Production of the SM-3 Block IIA and Block IB missiles, which form the backbone of U.S. missile defense, will be accelerated under the new agreements. Boeing will lead the production of the necessary components. This will speed up the process of delivering these missiles from the factory to the Navy, the Pentagon noted.
This was reported by “European Truth” with reference to the Pentagon’s press office.
The Pentagon has given defense contractors 21 days to submit plans for increasing weapons production.
U.S. President Donald Trump has so far been unable to secure a military victory in the war with Iran and has repeatedly backed away from threats of large-scale strikes, citing the possibility of resuming negotiations. The Guardian reports this, citing critics and experts who call such tactics inconsistent.
Despite large-scale U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, its nuclear program has likely not been completely destroyed. According to The New York Times, Tehran may have retained stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that would potentially be sufficient to quickly produce up to ten nuclear warheads.
