Press ReleaseUrgent2026-03-24

Chairman Wicker Leads SASC Hearing on Low-Cost Munitions

EnvironmentForeign PolicyDefense

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This press release from Senator Roger F. Wicker (R-MS) was published on 2026-03-24 and titled "Chairman Wicker Leads SASC Hearing on Low-Cost Munitions". It focuses on the environment and touches on foreign policy, defense.

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Chairman Wicker Leads SASC Hearing on Low-Cost Munitions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today led a hearing to examine the role of low-cost munitions in U.S. national defense and the need to strengthen the defense industrial base to support scalable, affordable weapons production. Vice Admiral Elizabeth Okano, USN, Principal Military Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; Lieutenant General Frank J. Lozano, USA, Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires; Lieutenant General Steven P. Whitney, USSF, Director of Force Structure, Resources and Assessment, J8; and Brigadier General Robert P. Lyons III, USAF, Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Weapons and Director of the Armament Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, all appeared before the committee. In his opening remarks for the record, Chairman Wicker stressed that the changing character of warfare requires a shift toward mass, affordability, and speed in munitions production, rather than reliance on high-cost systems alone. He highlighted the need to strengthen the defense industrial base, accelerate low-cost weapons development, and ensure the United States and its allies can meet growing operational demands and counter adversaries deploying large volumes of inexpensive systems. Read Chairman Wicker-s hearing opening statement as submitted for the record: The committee meets this morning to discuss low-cost munitions and their role in America-s national defense. We are joined by a distinguished panel of officers: Vice Admiral Elizabeth Okano, Lieutenant General Frank Lozano, Lieutenant General Steven Whitney, and Brigadier General Bob Lyons. I thank our witnesses for appearing today and for their service to our nation. For too long, we have equated the cost of a munition with the capability of that munition. But on today-s battlefield, that assumption no longer holds. In many cases, we can achieve much of the desired military effect at a fraction of the cost. We now have a fundamentally different approach to munitions design and production. This approach prioritizes manufacturability and commercial supply chains. It embraces rapid testing cycles and incorporates modular technologies, which allows us to build components that can integrate into multiple different systems. The character of warfare has changed. The wars of today cannot be won solely based on American technological superiority and exquisite weapons-exquisite referring to high-cost, technically complex weapons. Modern conflict demands large amounts of munitions that are produced at speed and are highly adaptable. We have seen this play out in real time. Public reporting on U.S. military operations in the Middle East highlights the large volumes of munitions required to sustain operations. Yet we often use very costly systems to stop low-cost threats. Patriot interceptors, for example, can run as much as $4 million per shot. We sometimes use Patriots to defeat threats that were built at a small fraction of that price. And we use Tomahawks against targets that could be countered by far less capable weapons. To fix this imbalance, we need to embrace a range of military options in the munitions space. At the same time, our defense industrial base has struggled to keep pace. For years, inconsistent demand signals from the Department of Defense and byzantine procurement practices made it difficult for industry to invest, scale, and sustain production. In some cases, production lines went cold. Last year, the department stood up a "Munitions Acceleration Council"-known as the MAC-to tackle these problems. Its mission is to remove structural barriers and expand long-term industrial capacity-a necessary and overdue initiative. Congress supported this effort in last year-s National Defense Authorization Act. We provided the Pentagon with unprecedented seven-year procurement authorities for certain munitions. Thus far, I have been disappointed to see that the department-s approach has been heavily weighted toward exquisite munitions. Less than three percent of the department-s MAC plan would fund low-cost munitions. The MAC plan is good, and we should expand our lines for Patriot, Tomahawk, THAAD, and more. We need a crash program for a high-low mix in munitions. A dedicated initiative like that must take advantage of simpler designs, and it must lead us to build those designs at scale through advanced manufacturing techniques. Such a program would also be crucial for our allies and partners, who face five- to seven-year backlogs for some traditional munitions. We cannot be the Arsenal of Democracy if we cannot get weapons out the door. A portfolio of low-cost munitions allows us to build a blended force, with the right mix of low- and high-cost systems. We are beginning to see what is possible, led by innovative military organizations and a competitive industry. Whe

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Chairman Wicker Leads SASC Hearing on Low-Cost Munitions WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today led a hearing to examine the role of low-cost munitions in U.S. national defense and the need to strengthen the defense industrial base to support scalable, affordable weapons production. Vice Admiral Elizabeth Okano, USN, Principal Military Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; Lieutenant General Frank J. Lozano, USA, Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires; Lieutenant General Steven P. Whitney, USSF, Director of Force Structure, Resources and Assessment, J8; and Brigadier General Robert P. Lyons III, USAF, Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Weapons and Director of the Armament Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, all appeared before the committee. In his opening remarks for the record, Chairman Wicker stressed that the changing character of warfare requires a shift toward mass, affordability, and speed in munitions production, rather than reliance on high-cost systems alone. He highlighted the need to strengthen the defense industrial base, accelerate low-cost weapons development, and ensure the United States and its allies can meet growing operational demands and counter adversaries deploying large volumes of inexpensive systems. Read Chairman Wicker-s hearing opening statement as submitted for the record: The committee meets this morning to discuss low-cost munitions and their role in America-s national defense. We are joined by a distinguished panel of officers: Vice Admiral Elizabeth Okano, Lieutenant General Frank Lozano, Lieutenant General Steven Whitney, and Brigadier General Bob Lyons. I thank our witnesses for appearing today and for their service to our nation. For too long, we have equated the cost of a munition with the capability of that munition. But on today-s battlefield, that assumption no longer holds. In many cases, we can achieve much of the desired military effect at a fraction of the cost. We now have a fundamentally different approach to munitions design and production. This approach prioritizes manufacturability and commercial supply chains. It embraces rapid testing cycles and incorporates modular technologies, which allows us to build components that can integrate into multiple different systems. The character of warfare has changed. The wars of today cannot be won solely based on American technological superiority and exquisite weapons-exquisite referring to high-cost, technically complex weapons. Modern conflict demands large amounts of munitions that are produced at speed and are highly adaptable. We have seen this play out in real time. Public reporting on U.S. military operations in the Middle East highlights the large volumes of munitions required to sustain operations. Yet we often use very costly systems to stop low-cost threats. Patriot interceptors, for example, can run as much as $4 million per shot. We sometimes use Patriots to defeat threats that were built at a small fraction of that price. And we use Tomahawks against targets that could be countered by far less capable weapons. To fix this imbalance, we need to embrace a range of military options in the munitions space. At the same time, our defense industrial base has struggled to keep pace. For years, inconsistent demand signals from the Department of Defense and byzantine procurement practices made it difficult for industry to invest, scale, and sustain production. In some cases, production lines went cold. Last year, the department stood up a "Munitions Acceleration Council"-known as the MAC-to tackle these problems. Its mission is to remove structural barriers and expand long-term industrial capacity-a necessary and overdue initiative. Congress supported this effort in last year-s National Defense Authorization Act. We provided the Pentagon with unprecedented seven-year procurement authorities for certain munitions. Thus far, I have been disappointed to see that the department-s approach has been heavily weighted toward exquisite munitions. Less than three percent of the department-s MAC plan would fund low-cost munitions. The MAC plan is good, and we should expand our lines for Patriot, Tomahawk, THAAD, and more. We need a crash program for a high-low mix in munitions. A dedicated initiative like that must take advantage of simpler designs, and it must lead us to build those designs at scale through advanced manufacturing techniques. Such a program would also be crucial for our allies and partners, who face five- to seven-year backlogs for some traditional munitions. We cannot be the Arsenal of Democracy if we cannot get weapons out the door. A portfolio of low-cost munitions allows us to build a blended force, with the right mix of low- and high-cost systems. We are beginning to see what is possible, led by innovative military organizations and a competitive industry. Whe