Pentagon's $73B missile budget runs into a solid rocket motor bottleneck

The entire U.S. missile-defense buildup rests on a supply chain that comes down to two solid rocket motor makers. The 2027 budget request tops $73 billion for missile programs and the goal is roughly 5,000 interceptors a year, but projected 2027 deliveries sit above 2,100.

CSIS, in a report sponsored by Raytheon and two motor startups, says emergency cash will not fix a workforce and chemistry problem (Turns out you cannot surge artisanal propellant).

I think this story resonates with me continuously because it is the quantifiable, tangible outcome of what we have all been feeling for some time: The “End of History” is over, and U.S. military dominance has atrophied under decades of underinvestment and complacency (perhaps for all the right reasons though).