Top defense firms to meet at Pentagon over Ukraine weapons support

The Pentagon plans to hold a classified meeting of top weapons makers Wednesday to discuss how the U.S. can speed up production to help Ukraine in its war with Russia, a defense official confirmed to The Hill. 

The Defense Department “will convene a meeting of our largest prime contractors, to enable a classified discussion of DoD requirements across broad portfolio areas,” the official said in a statement.  

On the table will be industry proposals to accelerate production of existing systems and create new ones critical to the Pentagon’s ongoing security assistance to Ukraine and allies, they said. 

The official did not say which companies would attend, but Reuters, which first reported on the gathering, noted that representatives from eight prime defense contractors would be there. 

The United States and other countries have surged weapons to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, drawing questions on resupply efforts and plans should the war stretch into years.   

Since the war began, the Pentagon has already sent some $1.7 billion in lethal aid to Ukraine, an arsenal that includes more than 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles and more than 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. 

To obtain these weapons, defense officials have been in near daily communication with weapons makers — Raytheon and Lockheed Martin make Javelins while Raytheon makes Stingers — to buy equipment to send to Ukraine and replenish those taken from the Pentagon’s own stocks for the effort, according to the official. 

The meeting on Wednesday will continue those discussions and ensure the United States is able to “support the long-term needs of the Ukrainian people, our own national security needs, and those of our Allies and our partners,” they added.