The US Department of Defense has begun talks with major automakers to increase weapons production, given dwindling reserves due to conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.
The information comes from the North American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, which reports that senior US defense officials met with executives from companies such as General Motors and Ford Motor, proposing that they dedicate part of their productive and personal capacity to the manufacture of ammunition and military equipment.
The talks also include groups such as General Electric Aerospace and Oshkosh Corporation, and address the companies’ ability to quickly convert their operations to military production, as well as existing regulatory or contractual obstacles, according to the newspaper.
The Trump administration considers expanding the industrial base a matter of national security, at a time when the US and its allies have transferred large volumes of weapons to Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion, thus straining domestic production capacity.
The newspaper indicates that the use of civil industry as investment has precedents in the USA, as when, during the Second World War, Detroit car manufacturers redirected their production to manufacture bombers, aircraft engines and military vehicles.
More recently, companies like General Motors and Ford have collaborated on ventilator production during the pandemic.
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