In a move to address growing concerns over the United States’ insufficient missile stockpiles and skyrocketing production costs, defense innovators are adopting new manufacturing models aimed at rapid, large-scale missile production. The effort reflects a shift away from reliance on costly, intricate weaponry toward simpler, more readily producible systems that can meet the demands of contemporary high-intensity warfare.

Located in northeast Virginia, a modest warehouse operated by defense group Co-Aspire exemplifies this approach. Inside, technicians assemble missiles using basic tools and readily available parts, some sourced from hobbyist and automotive markets. The facility’s streamlined setup, described by Co-Aspire’s Doug Denneny as akin to a “McDonald’s model for missile making,” enables quick training and scalable output. The startup recently completed one missile design in four months and anticipates finishing another within five, signaling the potential for accelerated production timelines.

This development comes amid growing Pentagon concern about the insufficiency of current missile inventories. Existing munitions such as the Tomahawk, Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) are not only costly—ranging from $1.6 million to $2.6 million per unit—but also produced in limited quantities. Even operating at full surge capacity, analysts estimate it would take years, not months, to replenish stockpiles depleted during conflicts such as those with Iran. The Biden administration’s defense budget submissions reflect this priority, including a $12 billion request over five years for 28,000 missiles and new programs aimed at acquiring 10,000 ground-launched missiles over three years.

Other startups mirror Co-Aspire's ambitions. Castelion, a three-year-old company, is working on hypersonic missiles with plans to produce 6,000 units annually at roughly $400,000 each once fully operational. The company aims to expand manufacturing capabilities to multiple locations, emphasizing cost reduction through widespread, off-the-shelf components. Former SpaceX executive Andrew Kreitz, co-founder of Castelion, underscores the importance of scale, cost efficiency, and parts availability in overcoming production bottlenecks.

Experts highlight the strategic imperative behind these efforts. The U.S. military’s historic focus on precision and advanced technology, often at the expense of quantity, faces new challenges in light of attritional conflicts like those observed in Ukraine. Fabian Hoffmann from the University of Oslo notes that wartime funding could enable these firms to ramp up production to thousands of missiles monthly, a scale necessary for sustained engagements against peer adversaries such as China or Iran.

At the same time, analysts caution that transitioning from bespoke, high-cost weapons to inexpensive, mass-produced missiles involves trade-offs. Tom Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies warns that the Pentagon must recalibrate its procurement expectations to accommodate weapons that may not match the precision or reliability of traditional systems. Achieving true production capacity will require structural reforms within the defense acquisition process and a willingness to accept new operational doctrines.

Alongside missiles, drone production is also expanding rapidly. The Pentagon has begun mass-producing drones modeled after Iranian designs, with planned budget increases surpassing $74 billion next year. These efforts collectively reflect an overarching shift toward meeting the logistical realities of modern warfare: maintaining deeper stockpiles of affordable, quickly producible weapons to sustain prolonged combat operations while preserving deterrence through overwhelming missile availability.