Inside the Pentagon's Multibillion-Dollar Push to Mass-Produce Tomahawk Missiles

A major multibillion-dollar defense agreement has led military analysts to question whether the United States is depleting its essential munitions reserves. The Pentagon has officially contracted defense company Raytheon to drastically accelerate the manufacturing output of Tomahawk missiles.

While Raytheon has been a longstanding weapons supplier to the United States for decades, this new procurement initiative marks a significant shift. The defense contractor is now tasked with delivering Tomahawk missiles at a scale and velocity never seen before.

This discussion explores the critical role these missiles play in the defense strategy of the United States, alongside the potential risks of sparking a worldwide arms race and escalating ongoing conflicts. The program is analyzed by presenter Anna Burns-Francis, joined by featured guests David Des Roches, a professor at the Thayer Marshall Institute and former Pentagon Director for Arabian Peninsula Affairs; Patrick Bury, a defense and security specialist at the University of Bath and former NATO analyst; and Dan Grazier, Senior Fellow and Director of the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center.