Pentagon’s top weapons buyer says Congress must act on munitions

Top Pentagon official Michael Duffey would not speculate on the risk that Congress could decline to finance the Pentagon’s priorities.

A top Pentagon official said lawmakers must “step up and deliver” on the Trump administration’s US$1.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion) funding request if the military is to replenish its stockpiles of key air defence interceptors and deep-strike weapons that have seen heavy use in the Iran war.

“We have the contracts in place, we have the acquisition reform in place,” Michael Duffey, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said on Sept 11 on Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power. “We need that funding to deliver for the warfighter.”

Duffey would not speculate on the risk that Congress could decline to finance the Pentagon’s priorities through a party-line budget manoeuvre known as reconciliation.

Regardless of the funding mechanism employed, he said the full US$1.5 trillion is crucial to achieving US President Donald Trump’s objectives. 

“It will be incumbent on us to work with Congress over the next couple of months to ensure that we get that full funding for our programme,” Duffey said.

He added that empowering the Pentagon to enter into seven-year production contracts with defence contractors has “incentivised industry to invest their own money” to increase production rates for key munitions.

Asked about the Defense Department’s priorities, he said “we’re focused on the critical munitions that are so essential for our competitive advantage and that are sought after worldwide – weapons like the Patriot, the Tomahawk, the Thaad interceptor, the Standard Missile”.

The administration has announced framework agreements with prime contractors and suppliers of core components for high-end munitions as part of an effort to expand production dramatically in the coming years.

“These investments and these ramp rates will allow us to replenish much faster – expended munitions and also ensuring that we’re building out capacity for the next generation,” Duffey said. BLOOMBERG