Pentagon asks manufacturers for plans to boost weapons production

By Melanie Sun Contributing Writer The Pentagon is pushing ahead with rebuilding the defense industrial base by asking weapons manufacturers to share plans for how they will increase weapons production and speed up their delivery schedules. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders on Wednesday, giving them no more than 21 days to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. “Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity…