Pentagon pushes defence companies to boost weapons production amid shortage

The United States has a big military that uses special missiles called Patriot and THAAD to stop enemy rockets and drones.

During a war with Iran that has lasted about five months, the United States used up a lot of these missiles.

Now the Pentagon, the part of the government that runs the military, is worried there may not be enough left.

So it sent a letter to the companies that build weapons, telling them they have 21 days to make plans for building missiles much faster and sending them out sooner.

The Pentagon says waiting years to build new weapons is no longer acceptable.

Experts at CSIS studied the numbers and found the United States has at least 65 percent fewer Patriot missiles and 38 percent fewer THAAD missiles than before the war.

That could force American forces to fire fewer missiles at incoming threats, raising the chance that one gets through, and it also means countries like Ukraine are receiving fewer interceptors.

President Trump says the United States still has 'massive amounts' of weapons, which is different from what the experts say.

Meanwhile, members of Congress are arguing over how much money to give the military, and a big defence spending bill is stuck.

Everyone wants the country to be safe, but they disagree on how many weapons are needed and how fast to build them.