U.S. expands missile production as Army seeks more depth in its arsenal

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Pentagon is pressing defense contractors to increase production of missile interceptors as recent conflicts expose a longstanding weakness in U.S. air and missile defense: inventories of the most capable weapons can be depleted faster than industry can replace them.

Army leaders say increasing production is only part of the answer.

“The future of missile defense is a mix of high end and lower cost interceptors,” said Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, commander of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

Speaking with reporters at the Space & Missile Defense Symposium Aug. 11, Rafferty said he couldn’t discuss how the Pentagon was addressing shortages of advanced hit-to-kill weapons used against ballistic missiles. Pentagon leaders, he said, “are the ones that are really signaling the need and the urgency for quantities.”

“We’re not really in the quantity business, we’re more in the consumption business,” Rafferty said.