Defense Firms Agree to Boost Weapons Production

An F-35C Lightning II is staged for flight operations on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 2026. (US Navy photo)

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Major defense manufacturers have agreed to quadruple production of what President Donald Trump called “Exquisite Class” weapons, following a meeting at the White House on munitions production, reports The Hill. “They have agreed to quadruple Production of the ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity. Expansion began three months prior to the meeting, and Plants and Production of many of these Weapons are already under way,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The meeting Friday was attended by the chief executives of RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, L3Harris Missile Solutions, and Honeywell Aerospace, reports Breaking Defense.

Trump warned Saturday that Iran “will be hit very hard,” as the war enters its second week, reports NPR. He has said he would not negotiate with Iran unless it was prepared to unconditionally surrender — making it unclear when the fighting will cease and how many more nations might be pulled into the conflict.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that a demand by the Trump for an unconditional surrender is a “dream that they should take to their grave,” reports Las Vegas Sun. He also apologized for his country’s attacks on other countries in the region, saying that Tehran would halt them and suggesting they were caused by miscommunication in the ranks.

US intelligence sources say Russia is providing Iran with information that can help Tehran strike the US military, reports Military Times. Pushed on whether Moscow has provided any military or intelligence assistance to Tehran since Operation Epic Fury started, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t comment.

US Central Command said it has deployed its long-range precision strike missile, or PrSM, for the first time in combat against Iranian targets, reports Defense News. The Lockheed Martin next-generation munitions were launched in open desert terrain from M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. A variety of precision munitions are launched from land, sea, and air, according to CENTCOM.

Hezbollah has deployed fighters to confront Israeli forces in southern Lebanon as the Iran-backed group has joined the conflict in the region, reports Reuters. Members of Hezbollah’s Radwan force had been ordered to join the battle and block advances by Israeli tanks.

Ukraine will send some of its military specialists to the Middle East to help counter Iranian drones and missiles, reports The Hill. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has asked some of his government officials “to present options for assisting the relevant countries and to provide aid in a way that does not weaken our own defense” in Ukraine.

Trump said he personally will be involved in selecting the new leader of Iran, reports The Hill. The son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is said to be the most likely person to be chosen, but Trump said that pick is not acceptable to him. Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the panel choosing Iran’s supreme leader, has reached consensus, reports Reuters. Mojtaba Khamenei has for years been seen as one of the top candidates to succeed the elder Khamenei, despite never holding a government position, aside from working in his father’s office.

ADM Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said Thursday the US destroyed an Iranian drone carrier, reports Navy Times. “We’re now up over 30 ships,” Cooper said of the number of Iranian navy vessels that the US has sunk or destroyed. “And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier, and as we speak, it’s on fire.”

The Sri Lanka government said it evacuated 208 crew members of a second Iranian vessel on Thursday, reports Reuters on MSN. This came a day after a US submarine struck and sank another Iranian frigate, killing 87 people.

The US House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt the president’s attacks on Iran, reports Navy Times, an early sign of unease in Congress over the conflict that is shifting US priorities at home and abroad. The Senate defeated a similar measure.

US Central Command announced Sunday afternoon that a seventh US service member has died after sustaining injuries during an attack March 1 in Saudi Arabia, reports CNN. The name of the service member is being withheld until 24 hours after their family is notified.

The Pentagon identified the remaining two soldiers killed in a drone strike Feb. 28 in Kuwait during the opening hours of the war with Iran as MAJ Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Waukee, IA, and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, CA, reports ABC News. The other soldiers are CAPT Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, FL; SGT 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, NE; SGT 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, MI; and SGT Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, IA. The six were members of the Army Reserve.

About one in four Americans, but a majority of Republicans, say they approve of the US military strikes on Iran ordered by President Donald Trump, according to a national poll by Reuters/Ipsos, reports Fox News. A CBS News poll finds that most Americans feel the Trump administration has not clearly explained the US’ goals in the conflict with Iran.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that he supported the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran “with some regret” as they represented an extreme example of a rupturing world order, reports NPR. He also said his country was not apprised beforehand of the strikes.

The Pentagon is expected soon to order 30,000 one-way attack drones from the winners of its Gauntlet unmanned exercise conducted over the past few weeks, reports Breaking Defense. Travis Metz, the Pentagon’s program manager for the Drone Dominance initiative, said unmanned platforms from 25 drone companies have been put through a series of combat-readiness tests at Fort Benning, GA.

US Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem is being replaced. Trump said Thursday he would name Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to be the next DHS secretary, reports Politico. Noem will be placed in a special envoy role in a new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere.

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) told Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby that he disagrees with portions of the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy, reports The Hill. Elbridge appeared before the committee last week. Wicker said the NDS ignores the implications of the Russia-Ukraine war and does not say much about Washington’s interests in the Middle East given the emergent war in Iran.

House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-AL) on Thursday also went after policy chief Colby at the hearing on the National Defense Strategy for not keeping Congress in the loop on force posture changes in Europe, reports The Hill.

France will expand its nuclear arsenal and implement a policy of “advanced deterrence” that could include deploying nuclear-capable forces to the territory of European allies, reports Military Times. Germany, the United Kingdom, and six more European countries will join talks about greater nuclear cooperation.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said last week it detected and tracked two Russian Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft operating within the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones, reports Defense News.  Two F-35 Lightning IIs, two F-22 Raptors, four KC-135 Stratotankers, one E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, two Canadian CF-18 Hornets, and one CC-150 Polaris tanker intercepted the Russian aircraft, according to a NORAD news release.

US Space Force GEN Shawn Bratton, vice chief of space operations, told lawmakers last week that training exercises and war games are increasingly focused on integrating space capabilities with broader military operations, reports Space News. Bratton said the service “must aggressively increase its end strength and infrastructure.”

The US shed 92,000 jobs in February, an unexpected setback for the labor market after economists had forecasted job growth, reports CBS News. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% last month from 4.3% in January. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics February 2026 jobs report.

Contracts awarded in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., March 5-6, 2026:

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $132,919,645 modification (P00069) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N0001922C0041). This modification exercises options to provide continued flight test support to include administrative, maintenance, and test preparation for training systems labs, flight test labs, and Autonomic Logistics Information System/Operational Data Integrated Network labs in support of testing of new capabilities for the F-35 air system for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corp, and non-Department of War (DOW) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (30%); Palmdale, California (26%); Patuxent River, Maryland (23%); Orlando, Florida (11%); San Diego, California (3%); Linthicum, Maryland (2%); Manchester, New Hampshire (2%); Los Angeles, California (1%); Samlesbury, United Kingdom (1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (1%), and expected to be completed in March 2027. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance (service) funds in the amount of $4,499,998 will be obligated at the time of award, all of which expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

AForge LLC,* Lorton, Virginia (SP4701-26-D-0001); Alloyed Inc.,* Seattle, Washington (SP4701-26-D-0002); Applied Rapid Technologies Co. Inc.,* Fredericksburg, Virginia (SP4701-26-D-0003); General Electric Co., doing business as Colibrium Additive, West Chester, Ohio (SP701-26-D-0004); Cornerstone Research Group,* Miamisburg, Ohio (SP4701-26-D-0005); DMG MORI Federal Services Inc., Hoffman Estates, Illinois (SP4701-26-D-0007); FasTech LLC,* Danville, Virginia (SP4701-26-D-0008); Form Alloy Technologies Inc.,* Spring Valley, California (SP4701-26-D-0009); ITL LLC,* Hampton, Virginia (SP4701-26-D-0011); KVG LLC,* Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (SP4701-26-D-0012); American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute, doing business as Lift Technologies, Detroit, Michigan (SP4701-26-D-0013); Malama Kai Technologies LLC,* Herndon, Virginia (SP4701-26-D-0014); Maritech Machine Inc.,* Panama City, Florida (SP4701-26-D-0015); Marotta Controls Inc.,* Montville, New Jersey (SP4701-26-D-0016); MRL Materials Resources LLC,* Xenia, Ohio (SP4701-26-D-0017); UI Labs, doing business as MXD USA, Chicago, Illinois (SP4701-26-D-0018); NCS Technologies Inc.,* Manassas, Virginia (SP4702-26-D-0019); Nikon AM Synergy Inc., Long Beach, California (SP4701-26-D-0020); Precision Additive Solutions Inc.,* Indianapolis, Indiana (SP4701-26-D-0021); Relativity Space Inc.,* Long Beach, California (SP4701-26-D-0022); Shepra Inc.,* Orange Park, Florida (SP4701-26-D-0023); Sintavia LLC,* Hollywood, Florida (SP4701-26-D-0024); Stratasys Direct Inc., Eden Prairie, Minnesota (SP4701-26-D-0025); and Velo3D Inc.,* Fremont, California (SP4701-26-D-0026), are sharing a maximum $9,800,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SP4701-25-R-0001 to provide a Joint Additive Manufacturing Acceptability IV pilot parts program. This was a competitive acquisition with 27 responses received. These are one-year base contracts with four one-year option periods. The performance completion date is Feb. 24, 2027. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, War Department, and Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriations is fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Awarded on Feb. 25, 2026)

AMETEK SCP Inc., Westerly, Rhode Island (N66604-26-D-J601); Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc.,* Portsmouth, Virginia (N66604-26-D-J602); Massa Products Corp.,* Hingham, Massachusetts (N66604-26-D-J603); SyQwest LLC, Cranston, Rhode Island (N66604-26-D-J604; and Teledyne D.G. O’Brien, Portsmouth, New Hampshire (N66604-26-D-J605), are each awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for the design, manufacture, test, package, and delivery of TR-317 Series Hull Penetrator assembly first article and production units. The maximum dollar value for all five contracts combined is $99,613,488. Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc. is being awarded $2,500; Massa Products Corp. is being awarded $2,500; Teledyne D.G. O’Brien is being awarded $62,696; AMETEK SCP Inc. is being awarded $469,936; and SyQwest LLC is being awarded $915,856, toward a total contract ceiling value of $99,613,488. Work will be performed in Westerly, Rhode Island (20%); Portsmouth, Virginia (20%); Hingham, Massachusetts (20%); Cranston, Rhode Island (20%); and Portsmouth, New Hampshire (20%), and is expected to be completed by December 2031. Fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,453,488 (1%) will be obligated at the time of award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. All other funding will be made available at the delivery order level as contracting actions occur. This contract was competitively procured via the System for Award Management website, with seven offers received. Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity.

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $60,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-24-C-2106) for additional long lead-time material required for the accomplishment of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) refueling and complex overhaul. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2026. Funding will not be obligated at time of award. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Sterling, Virginia, was awarded a $31,157,981.00 firm-fixed-price and cost reimbursement contract for distributed common ground system (DCGS) signals intelligence field support. This contract provides for sustainment of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems used for collection, correlation of data, and collaboration of signals of interest from airborne, ground, and other systems in order to provide critical near real time actionable intelligence to the DCGS analysts, warfighters and national mission partners. Work will be performed at multiple continental U.S.; and outside the continental U.S. locations and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 2027. his contract was a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $13,514,445 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8527-26-C-B001). (Awarded February 25, 2026)

*Small business