US President Donald Trump convened a high-level meeting with the chief executives of America's largest defence manufacturers on Wednesday, announcing that the companies have agreed to quadruple production of what he described as "exquisite class weaponry" — the highest tier of precision munitions in the US arsenal — as Operation Epic Fury in West Asia continues to draw heavily on American stockpiles.

The meeting brought together the CEOs of BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon — effectively a who's who of the American defence industrial base. Trump shared details of the meeting on social media, noting that the discussions were productive and that a follow-up meeting has already been scheduled in two months.

Trump acknowledged in his post that the United States currently holds a large supply of medium and upper-medium grade munitions, adding that these have already been deployed — not only in Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury, but also in Venezuela. The disclosure of Venezuela as a theatre of US munitions use is likely to attract significant diplomatic attention.

With states across the country already reported to be bidding for the new manufacturing plants that will support the production ramp-up, the announcement signals a major expansion of America's defence industrial footprint — one driven directly by the demands of an active and expanding military campaign.