On August 5, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg sent a memo to the leaders of America's largest weapons manufacturers. It gave them no more than 21 days to explain how they would deliver critical weapons faster and produce more of them.
The tone was not diplomatic.
"Years-long development cycles are not acceptable," Feinberg wrote. "We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now."
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the memo was real. He said it would help shape the fiscal 2028 budget request to Congress.
Sit with that for a second.
The United States already outspends every other military on earth. NATO allies are in the middle of the largest rearmament drive since the Cold War.
Washington has just signed the two largest missile contracts in its history. And the Pentagon's response is still… go faster.
That gap, between what governments are willing to spend and what factories can actually deliver, is the story investors are underpricing right now.
Money Doesn't Build Factories