[Financial News] On the 6th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump declared that production of precision-guided weapons, including interceptor missiles, will be increased fourfold. His statement signaled a determination to break through concerns that the United States might not be able to win a war with the Islamic Republic of Iran because of ammunition shortages. "Quadruple" production pledge Trump made the pledge at the White House after summoning chief executives of major defense contractors. CEOs from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX (formerly Raytheon), Boeing, L3Harris, Honeywell, and BAE Systems attended the meeting, joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. After the meeting, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that "we discussed production and production timelines" and announced that the defense companies had agreed to a fourfold increase in output. He added, "They (the defense CEOs) also agreed to quadruple production of an 'Exquisite Class' of precision weapons," saying, "Through this, we want to reach the highest possible volume as quickly as we can." CNBC noted that Trump did not spell out exactly what he meant by "precision-grade" weapons, but in the defense sector the term is used to describe "one-of-a-kind technology" or systems. It generally refers to high-cost precision-guided weapons such as the Tomahawk cruise missile, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), and the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system. Trump had previously insisted that the United States of America (U.S.) has the capacity to produce weapons without limit, and the latest announcement appears aimed at proving that claim by bringing in defense industry leaders. Experts have recently warned that if precision-guided munitions are depleted in the war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the U.S. will be left without sufficient means to respond to threats from China. Is it feasible? Despite Trump’s declaration of a "fourfold increase," questions are already being raised about whether it can actually be achieved. The U.S. is already suffering from severe shortages because of supply chain constraints. Precision-guided weapons require highly sophisticated components made from special materials. Semiconductors for missile guidance systems and rocket motors, for example, demand skilled labor and specialized facilities, both of which are in critically short supply. Defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and RTX already have backlogs stretching several years. Even if an order is placed now, it could take years before the weapons are actually delivered. Above all, it is impossible to quadruple the skilled workforce needed for expanded production in a short period of time. Quasi-wartime mobilization system There are, however, ways Trump could try to make this happen. He could use executive orders to impose extraordinary policy pressure equivalent to a wartime mobilization system. Back in January, Trump had already signed an executive order forcing defense firms to channel profits into expanding production facilities instead of using them for share buybacks or dividends. In his social media post that day, he stressed that the expansion of defense production had already begun three months earlier, and that the latest meeting was simply the outcome of that agreement. Under a quasi-wartime mobilization posture, the Trump administration is pursuing a "reindustrialization" strategy that rapidly converts large-scale production facilities—such as automobile and farm machinery plants—into defense production lines. In addition, the Department of Defense is considering a plan to cope with shortages of precision-guided weapons by deploying large quantities of mid-tier munitions such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) to strike the Islamic Republic of Iran’s infrastructure. dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter