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CARLISLE, Pa. — Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pleaded with defense contractors to “go faster” as fears grow that the country’s stockpile of weapons is dangerously low after a series of attacks on Iran.
“What I need you to know — and I know this is simple for me to say but hard to do — but go faster, please, go faster, think bolder,” he told the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit.
“We all need to deliver quality weapons, delivered on time with shortage of lead times and lower costs,” he said.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine attends a meeting between President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 24, 2026. AFP via Getty ImagesDefense contractors gathered at the US Army War College to discuss the future of warfare and hear from government officials about the needs of the American military.
The message from Caine and other Pentagon officials was about the changing nature of war. Technology like drones can be built quickly in massive numbers, they warned, shifting the strength of weapons to quantity over quality.
“Quantity can be built, networked and employed faster than it could before. We see this emerging all over the world right now in today’s battlefield,” Caine said.
“The new reality of modern warfare, my friends, is competition at a speed and velocity that we haven’t planned for,” he warned.
Caine’s message came as the US launched more strikes against Iran in the lead-up to the pending blockade on Iranian ports. The chairman moved up his scheduled speech time from 4 pm to 11 am, making a quick swing through the state, before returning to Washington. Caine jokingly thanked the local police for not stopping his motorcade “which was going about 100 miles per hour.”
Tehran is a good example of the new warfare that the officials described. Iran builds drones quickly and cheaply in underground facilities using commercial components. It then relies on quantity, using thousands in an air attack to overwhelm expensive, multi-million-dollar air defense systems.
Michael Duffey, the under secretary of war for acquisitions and sustainment, noted, in the past, no other country was able to match American engineering when it comes to weapon development but, he warned, now the field of war has changed.
“The biggest friction point we have in acquisitions,” he said, “is decades of entrenched culture … that impedes the speed and volume we need.”
A house burns after a Russian air-bomb strike, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on July 13, 2026. Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/INSTARimages“We need to be able to operate with speed.”
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) is hosting the two-day defense summit.
“Peace through strength. That’s the mission,” McCormick said in his opening remarks.
He pointed to the threats the country faces today as to why he is bringing the defense industry together: “China, Iran, Russia, North Korea-they all share one objective. objective: a weakened United States, and they’re actively working together toward that end.”
“We need a new culture, a new culture across our defense enterprise-one that takes risk, moves fast, learns from failure, and from our allies and our adversaries alike,” the senator said. “One that embraces dual-use technologies from the commercial world.”
The pleas for greater speed and innovation come as key US weapon stockpiles remain significantly depleted and could face further drawdowns as Operation Epic Fury continues, with strikes being launched Tuesday for a fourth consecutive day.
In fact, an April report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found the US may have expended more than half of its prewar inventory in the Middle East.
Some of the weapons systems most acutely affected include Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are used to strike targets deep inside enemy territory; the long-range JASSMs, as well as Patriot missiles and THAAD interceptors, which are used to defend against incoming missiles and drones.
According to CSIS, rebuilding America’s stockpiles will take one to four years because of the long production time.
There were about 3,100 Tomahawks in stock prior to the war, according to reports, with 1,000 being used up in the fighting. That’s about 10 times the number the military buys each year.
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More than 1,000 Patriot missiles were shot, with that number expected to be replaced in mid-2029.
There were about 4,400 JASSMs available before the Iran attacks, with more than 1,100 being fired.
There were as many as 290 THADD missiles used to take down Iranian drones. Replacing them will take until the end of 2029.
“The problem today isn’t money; it’s time,” the report said.
Defense companies are working to ramp up production but there are several factors to be dealt with, including complex, highly specialized supply chains used to source materials; a heavy reliance on rare raw materials; and the need for precise, flawless manufacturing.
The government is spending heavily to make up the difference: The Department of Defense has allocated approximately $25 billion to fast-track procurement and the White House is urging Congress to approve a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget.
But during this time, the US will remain vulnerable to enemy nations at a time of a “complex” world stage.
Caine warned of the “complex” global environment the US faces at this moment in history, pointing to “ongoing operations in the Middle East,” the Russia-Ukraine war, securing the Southern border of the US, a nuclear armed North Korea, and an aggressive China.
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) is hosting the two-day defense summit. President Trump will join a roundtable on Wednesday.
Keystone State companies produce thousands of parts along the US military’s supply chain, playing vital roles in producing ships, vehicles and weapons, according to a new report produced by logistics firm Exiger and shared exclusively with The Post Tuesday.
Other speakers for the summit include Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Gov. Josh Shapiro, JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon, Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet, Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden, and General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic.
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