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The Morning Rant

Oh look! Another issue that will be used by the incoherent anti-American media to bash...let's make a list! President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, General Caine, Israel, the military in general, and probably your local Republican congressman.

Left uncriticized will be the last administration, or the Biden/Obama junta for those with a brain, that sent all sorts of military hardware to Ukraine without understanding or caring about replenishment. And Congress, which is obsessed with funding the building of grand weapons systems, but can't be bothered to fund adequately the mundane, boring, but oh-so-essential stuff like replacement missiles and artillery shells.

And they will run screaming from the pesky little bit of data that shows Donald Trump talking about replenishing our military as far back as his first presidential campaign in 2015-2016!

Of course he also campaigned on the issue in 2024, and has spoken about the issue as president.

Trump Poised to Invoke Defense Production Act to Boost Munitions Production for Iran War.

The Trump administration is considering invoking the Defense Production Act to ramp up the manufacturing of munitions, driven by worries about U.S. inventory levels during the ongoing “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran. This law permits the government to direct production priorities toward critical national security requirements; the idea of invoking it has surfaced in closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill, per people with knowledge of the discussions.

President Donald J. Trump has openly called on defense manufacturers to speed up output, stating, “We have unlimited middle and upper ammunition, which is really what we’re using in this war.” Trump further stated that defense firms are operating “under emergency orders” to fulfill military demands.

Is it an issue? Absolutely! We cannot allow our stocks to be depleted without a robust plan to replenish them...and fast! The particular problem of course is that these missiles are amazingly complex, and simply take a long while to build. Throwing industrial capacity at the problem is unlike that of World War II, where we were able to convert civilian manufacturing to produce war materiel in a very short time. In addition to the obvious (Boeing,Grumman, etc.) Ford, GM, Chrysler, American Locomotive Company, Singer, International Harvester, Frigidaire, IBM, and many more civilian companies shifted production to planes and tanks and aircraft engines and other needed materiel. The list is amazing, and includes companies like Steinway Pianos, Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation (jukeboxes!), Lionel, Hoover, and on and on.

But...there is a small but rapidly growing niche, in which small and nimble high-tech firms can build advanced weaponry much more quickly than the traditional manufacturers.As an example, those $35,000 drones we are using in Iran are built by a small company that is barely 10 years old! Spektreworks has built hundreds of these drones that have been put to good use at a comparatively low cost, and more importantly, they delivered quickly!

Is this the answer to our supply issues? No, but it is part of it. President Trump will need to pressure the large, traditional manufacturers to stop doing business as usual, and start producing without the procurement nonsense that anyone with a passing knowledge of the process will explain. They have grown fat and lazy, and Donald Trump is just the man to whip them into shape.

As the nature of modern warfare changes rapidly, these companies must be far more nimble than they were. Drones were toys just a few years ago, and now they are a significant threat on the battlefield. A 10-year design and procurement pathway will not work!

And countering the drone threat will be a huge market, with unknown technology that might shift the battlefield tomorrow or next year. Israel's laser-based anti-missile system is changing the paradigm already, and it is entirely possible that there is a small tech firm in America that is working on the next radical advancement.

President Trump's dislike of regulation and the sclerotic pace of government and industry will be a huge driver of this sort of advancement. He has already set the tone, and I wouldn't bet against American ingenuity!

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!