Pentagon Approaches Automakers, Manufacturers to Boost Weapons Production
Senior defense officials have talks with GM, Ford and others about shifting some capacity

By Sharon Terlep and Marcus Weisgerber
April 15, 2026 7:00 pm ET
An infantry squad vehicle made by General Motors. Sgt. Dominick Smith/U.S. Army

The Trump administration wants automakers and other American manufacturers to play a larger role in weapons production, reminiscent of a practice used during World War II.

Senior defense officials have held talks about producing weapons and other military supplies with the top executives of several companies, including Mary Barra, chief executive officer of General Motors, and Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The Pentagon is interested in enlisting the companies to use their personnel and factory capacity to increase production of munitions and other equipment as the wars in Ukraine and Iran deplete stocks.

The talks were preliminary and wide-ranging, the people said. Defense officials said American manufacturers might be needed to backstop traditional defense companies and asked whether the companies could rapidly shift to defense work.

GE Aerospace and the vehicle and machinery maker Oshkosh were among the companies involved in the talks with defense officials.

The Defense Department “is committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage,” a Pentagon official said.

The discussions are the latest by the administration to put military manufacturing on what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called a “wartime footing.”

Discussions started before the war in Iran, the people said. The conflict’s strain on U.S. munitions stockpiles is further indication that the military needs more commercial partners to scale up supplies of munitions and tactical hardware, such as missiles and counterdrone technology, quickly.

During the talks with U.S. manufacturing executives, defense officials framed bolstering weapons production as a matter of national security.

The officials asked whether companies could help as the Pentagon seeks to shore up domestic manufacturing capacity, the people said. The officials also asked executives to identify barriers to taking on additional defense work, from contracting requirements to hurdles in the bidding process.

Oshkosh, based in Wisconsin, entered a dialogue with the Pentagon in November following Hegseth’s call for companies to boost production, said Logan Jones, chief growth officer for the company’s transport segment.

Its discussions have centered on “where could we bring that capacity in a way that matches our core capability,” he said.

While Oshkosh builds tactical troop carriers for the Army and U.S. allies, most of the company’s $10.5 billion revenue is nondefense.

“We’ve been out looking at capabilities that we think fit their needs, just proactively,” Jones said. “We’ve heard it loud and clear that this is important.”

Lawmakers and the Pentagon have grown especially concerned about U.S. weapons manufacturing capacity after Washington and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies began transferring large quantities of weapons to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

The Pentagon’s recent request for a $1.5 trillion budget, which would be the department’s largest in modern history, calls for major investment in munition and drone manufacturing.
The Trump administration has called on American automakers before. GM and Ford teamed up with medical-device makers to churn out tens of thousands of ventilators during the early days of the pandemic.

Repurposing domestic manufacturing for military use has a precedent. Detroit’s automakers halted car production during World War II to churn out bombers, aircraft engines and trucks, as America’s “Arsenal of Democracy.”

Today, much of military production is done by a limited number of contractors. While many of the largest U.S. manufacturers outside the traditional defense sector already hold Pentagon contracts, most are limited in scope and dollar value, often confined to niche research or specific products.

GM has a defense subsidiary that makes a lightweight infantry squad vehicle based on the Chevrolet Colorado pickup. The program—and other initiatives at the company—represent a growing revenue stream, but still account for only a fraction of the automaker’s revenue and total production capacity.

The automaker is expected to be a leading contender to build a larger infantry squad vehicle for the U.S. Army that would replace the Humvee. In addition to moving troops, the truck would serve as a mobile power and command base.

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