The Department of Defense (DOD) on Wednesday announced $135 million in deals under the Defense Production Act (DPA), which President Trump invoked twice in recent months amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“These actions will help to retain critical workforce capabilities throughout the disruption caused by COVID-19 and to restore some jobs lost because of the pandemic,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Andrews said in a statement.
The announcement includes $80 million in contracts to Spirit AeroSystems for advanced tooling, $20 million to Propulsion Defense Industrial Base to “sustain critical industrial base capability for highly specialized engineering resources,” $19.5 million to Steel America for U.S. Navy shaft repair and manufacturing, $15 million to Bethel Industries for “laser cutting of laminated nylon fabrics” and $500,000 to Allied Systems for manufacturing and service provisioning for cranes and davits for the Navy and Coast Guard.
Trump invoked the 1950 DPA in late April to ramp up the production of needed materials during the pandemic, such as swabs for testing. He also used it in May to declare meatpacking plants “critical infrastructure,” compelling facilities to remain open during the pandemic.
Andrews said the DOD will continue partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide $2.9 billion in “life-saving medical services, supplies and equipment to service members and federal agencies in the nation’s whole-of-government approach to the coronavirus pandemic.”