Financial Times: America adopts the “McDonald’s” model to produce cheaper missiles in less time | economy

The United States is moving to reformulate its strategy in the production of military missiles, by shifting from manufacturing high-cost, slow-production weapons to simpler and cheaper models that can be produced in large quantities within short periods, in an attempt to enhance its military readiness after the decline in its stocks following the recent conflicts, according to the British newspaper the Financial Times.

The newspaper points out that emerging defense companies in the United States are leading this transformation by establishing standard production workshops that can be expanded quickly during times of war, similar to the model of fast food restaurants in terms of speed of expansion and production, which has prompted some officials to describe it as “the McDonald’s model for the missile industry.”

This trend comes at a time when the Pentagon faces increasing challenges in replenishing ammunition stocks, as the United States currently produces only about 600 “Tomahawk” missiles annually, the cost of each of which is about $2.6 million, while the cost of “JASSM” missiles reaches about $1.9 million, and “PRSM” missiles reach about $1.6 million.

Michael Horowitz, a former official in charge of defense innovation at the Pentagon, said that the American arsenal relies almost entirely on weapons systems that are expensive and difficult to manufacture, stressing that the nature of modern wars requires a shift to the production of weapons that are less expensive and more capable of rapid manufacture.

Fast production

Co-Aspire is developing two missiles for the Pentagon. It completed the design of the first missile in just 4 months, and expects to complete the second within 5 months.

The American company relies on simple production lines that do not require complex industrial equipment. A new technician can be trained in just one month to assemble missiles using hand tools, while some components are manufactured using 3D printers.

The company itself also relies on commercial off-the-shelf components, including motors originally designed for amateur radio aircraft, with the aim of reducing costs and bypassing supply chain complexities.

In the same context, Castelion Company, which was founded three years ago, obtained a contract to produce more than 12,000 hypersonic missiles within five years, and aims to produce about 6,000 missiles annually at a cost of approximately $400,000 per missile, with plans to establish additional factories within the United States.

Lessons of wars

Experts say that the war in Ukraine and then the confrontation with Iran highlighted the importance of possessing large stocks of low-cost missiles, after modern wars showed that attrition depends on the volume of production as much as it depends on the development of technology.

Estimates conducted before the US-Israeli war on Iran had indicated the possibility of depleting some essential US stockpiles within just weeks in the event of a widespread confrontation with China.

In parallel, the Pentagon is also expanding its investments in drones, after it used for the first time last February the “Lucas” suicide plane, developed by taking advantage of the Iranian “Shahed 136” drone model. The ministry also requested an increase in spending on drones and related technologies to more than $74 billion in 2027.

Analysts believe that the success of this strategy requires a change in the philosophy of US military procurement, so that the Pentagon accepts the use of missiles that are relatively less accurate, but cheaper and easier to produce, allowing the building of huge stocks and enhancing the ability to fight long-term wars.