If confirmed, the operation would mark a rare instance of US strikes occurring during regular market hours. Market(ing) tactics aside, the now six-month military campaign against Iran has also exposed a critical operational vulnerability: the US military is facing an alarming shortage of advanced missiles and interceptors.

However, the crisis extends well beyond procuring replacement missiles from major defense firms. The deeper vulnerability lies farther upstream, where the rare earths and critical materials required for guidance systems, seekers, propulsion components, warheads, and interceptors remain scarce and heavily concentrated in China, even as Beijing increasingly weaponizes export controls of metals against the West. 

On Monday, the Department of War said it had secured seven-year agreements with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Lockheed Martin to rapidly expand US missile-production capacity and replenish depleted inventories.

The agreements are intended to increase output and accelerate deliveries of critical missile subcomponents supporting the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor.