A sign warns of a deactivated employee turnstile at Boeing Co.'s manufacturing facility, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Renton, Wash., on the first day of a shutdown due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

A sign warns of a deactivated employee turnstile at Boeing Co.'s manufacturing facility, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Renton, Wash., on the first day of a shutdown due to the spread of the new coronavirus. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Pentagon Bracing for Weapon-Delivery Delays Due to Coronavirus

Navy says it will “work out” the virus’ impact on projects with companies.

Pentagon officials are bracing for companies being unable to deliver weapons on time as the coronavirus makes its way through company assembly lines and supply chains.

In separate briefings with reporters on Wednesday, the top weapons buyers for the Department of Defense and the Navy said that they are working with industry to assess the impact of the virus on their workforces, but that already some aircraft production has been halted.  

“I do expect there will be some delay and disruption,” said James “Hondo” Geurts, the Navy’s top weapons buyer. on a Wednesday conference call. Navy officials have “real-time systems” to track disruptions when they arise, and already they have spotted changes.

"We're seeing a tightening on the supply base as smaller shops deal with their local situations,” Guerts said.

As for larger sites run by major defense contractors, it depends on where they’re located.

Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, did not know how many defense contractors were unable to show up for work — either because they were sick, quarantined, or their job sites were closed.

“I will say that the bulk of the defense industry is working today,” she said during a briefing at the Pentagon. “We've had a few specific issues, such as Boeing, where they had to shut down an operation.”

Boeing on Wednesday began a 14-day shutdown of its airliner manufacturing plants in the Seattle area — a region heavily hit by the coronavirus. Assembly lines that build Air Force KC-46 tankers and Navy P-8 submarine hunting planes are among those closed.

Lord’s office has created a “heatmap” that overlays coronavirus positive tests, state and local shelter-in-place rules and guidelines and defense manufacturing locations. 

“We are understanding the supply chain vulnerabilities associated with the virus,” Jennifer Santos, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, said Wednesday. “We created ... the supply chain heatmap for our leadership to understand the impacts of the supply chain overlaid with the CDC [coronavirus] data.

Lord, in a memo last week, said contractors building military weapons could show up for work even in cases where the state and local government told citizens to stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus. Lord said she had conversations with local officials in Pennsylvania and California to make sure defense contractors were issued summons for defying stay-at-home orders.

Guerts said that last week his staff checked the status of each Navy weapons project to know if project delays are due to coronavirus or other issues.

“So [then] we can clearly understand what's a delaying disruption due to the unique challenges of this situation versus a delay that had already incurred and making sure we can clearly understand which is which,” he said.

Pentagon officials will figure out who’s culpable for the delays down the road.

“We will work out the [program] impacts based on the virus,” Guerts said. “One thing I do want to ensure though, as we come out of it, [that] we are well positioned to then recover as quickly as possible, because all these efforts are critical to our national security.”

Guerts said he wants to speed up contract awards to boost companies’ cash flows during the crisis. 

“We are not delaying anything,” he said. “In fact, I am driving the team to accelerate."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.