The ongoing war in Iran is likely to boost the production of U.S. defense companies, especially those with Pentagon contracts, either to replenish stocks, provide new equipment to be used in the conflict, or develop new technologies.
Investor's Business Daily reported on Thursday that the Department of Defense on Wednesday awarded "sizable" contracts to several companies, including Boeing, RTX, BAE Systems and Tyto Government Solutions, which is privately held.
The outlet went on to cite a report by the Financial Times detailing that missile and air defense systems, most of them provided by RTX and Lockheed Martin, have been depleted the most.
Another report noted that President Donald Trump plans to request for $1.5 trillion in defense spending this year, a figure that would represent a 50% increase compared to 2025. The Pentagon is also considering requesting an extra $200 billion from Congress to fund the war in Iran, but it is unclear whether lawmakers will comply.
Tyto Government Solutions received a contract worth over $50 billion to sustain the Air Force's Cyber Transport System this week. Other main contractors signed less substantial agreements, with Boeing locking up a contract worth $900 million to sustain and support T-38 avionics systems. RTX's Raytheon division, in turn, got a $45.4 million contract for a change to the Global Positioning System constellation and its Next Generation Operational Control System.
Time noted in an article of its own that any substantial increase of production, however, could take up to years. That's why a Pentagon memo from last November called for "bigger, longer deals, so they'll be willing to invest more to grow the industrial base that supplies our weapons."
Trump met with defense contractors during the war, saying later that they had agreed to "quadruple" production. The outlet noted that, for example, almost 15% of the U.S.'s stockpile of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors was used during Israel's 12-day war with Iran last year.
In January, the Pentagon signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to quadruple the production of THAADs from 96 to 400, a goal that could take years to be reached.
The U.S. is poised to continue using weapons at a high rate in the near-term, as Trump said the war in Iran will continue for another two or three weeks.
Trump claimed in a prime time address on Wednesday that the U.S.'s goals are being achieved, with forces managing to dismantle "the regime's ability to threaten America or reject power outside of their borders."
"That means eliminating Iran's navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their air force and their missile program at levels never seen before and annihilating their defense industrial base. We've done all of it. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten."
