Bill LaPlante, then the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, testifies on acquisition reform before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and management support in April 2015. U.S. Air Force / Jim Varhegyi
US Needs More Arms Factories, Says Chief Weapons-Buyer Nominee
Bill LaPlante also said he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons and equipment to Ukraine.
The United States needs more production lines that can churn out missiles, bombs, and drones, President Biden’s nominee to be the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer told lawmakers Tuesday.
Bill LaPlante's Senate confirmation hearing came as the U.S. military raids its stockpiles of Javelin anti-tank and Stinger anti-aircraft missile to arm Ukraine.
“I believe we need multiple hot production lines,” LaPlante said. “Whether it be munitions, [drones] and the like. They by themselves are a deterrent, and we need to put much more focus on that across the board.”
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked whether the U.S. should “make some one-time investments this year so we could expand production of key munitions.” Responded LaPlante: “Yes, we do.”
The U.S. military has sent thousands of the easy-to-use Javelins and Stingers to Ukraine. But back in the United States, only the Javelin is in serial production, by a Lockheed Martin-Raytheon Technologies joint venture.
“We're sending thousands of Stingers to Ukraine and we don't even have a hot production line,” Inhofe said.
Companies typically keep production lines up and running when they have orders or anticipate orders. It’s rare for a company to keep building a weapon without booked orders. A notable exception is when Boeing built C-17 cargo planes without orders in anticipation of being able to sell them later.
Biden nominated LaPlante, CEO of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based non-profit Draper Labs, on Feb. 28 to become the defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment. The position has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since Jan. 20, 2021, when President Biden took office.
Biden announced last week that in addition to missiles and other equipment, the U.S. would send Ukraine Switchblade drones. The small drones, which are filled with explosives, can loiter over the battlefield and then crash into targets.
“If confirmed, one of my first things to do on day one would be [to] accelerate all equipment and capabilities to both the Ukrainians … and also helping our NATO partners and replenish our stockpiles,” LaPlante said.