The Pentagon has ordered US arms manufacturers to accelerate weapons production as the Israeli-US war on Iran depletes American munition stockpiles.

In a memo obtained by The Washington Post, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg gave defence companies 21 days to explain how they would “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities”.

“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”

The order exposes the mounting strain the war has placed on US weapons reserves and follows tensions between President Donald Trump and Pentagon officials over dwindling missile supplies.