U.S. Department of Defense: U.S. Needs to Reintegrate GM and Ford into Defense Production System to Expand Military Production Capacity
Stephen Feinberg, nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense, stated during a Senate hearing that the U.S. must integrate large manufacturers like General Motors (GM) and Ford into the defense production base to increase the output of munitions, system vehicles, and unmanned platforms in response to potential high-intensity conflicts with China. This approach follows the World War II model of "converting auto factories into military factories," but is modernized into a combination of "automated production lines + modular weapon systems."
Reports indicate that the Pentagon is in preliminary negotiations with several automakers and general industrial giants, hoping to leverage their experience in large-scale manufacturing, supply chains, and automation engineering to bypass the traditional centralized structure dominated by the "Big Five defense prime contractors," thereby accelerating the production pace of munitions, ships, and tactical systems. This path is viewed by officials as a contemporary version of "restoring World War II-style industrial mobilization capabilities."
Source: Public Information
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Feinberg的提议揭示的不只是“武器多一件”的需求，而是“工业基础结构”与“大国战争节奏”的再对齐。在传统“和平生产‑局部战备”模式下，美国将大量高精度产能集中于少数军工巨头，而在高强度博弈时代，这种结构被判断为弹性不足、扩产过慢。因此，将通用汽车与福特纳入“武备供应链”实质是“把民用制造体系武器化”。
从资本结构看，这一转向意味着汽车资本与军工资本的深度交叉：乘用车工厂的闲置产能、自动化线与供应商网络，被重新定义为“可切换的战争资产”。这不仅会改变资本估值逻辑（从“销量/市盈率”转向“系统冗余+动员能力”），也将重塑汽车公司与联邦政府之间的权力关系，使其在和平时期就与国防预算深度绑定。
在更大的历史结构中，这一计划重现了“二战型动员”与“冷战‑信息化军事革命”的结合：既保留二战的大规模流水线精神，又嵌入无人机、自主平台与数据化后勤系统，将工业国的“制造主权”与“战争时间窗口”挂钩。若这一模式被常态化，美国经济将实质上被拆分为“民用层”和“可随时升级为军备层”的混合结构，从而在全球冲突模型下提前锁定工业优势。