Hegseth’s ‘FORTRESS America’ needs an arsenal, not a silo

An Iranian strike in February destroyed an American missile-defense radar worth about $300 million at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. In the war with Iran, the U.S. military has lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones. And intercepting relatively cheap Iranian drones can require missiles costing millions of dollars.

That is the arithmetic Pete Hegseth must confront as he builds FORTRESS America, the Department of War initiative to secure the capabilities and supply chains on which the military depends.

FORTRESS America should mean more than stockpiling. It should mean American resilience through American scale.

Hegseth is right to pursue resilience. But without a reality check, the initiative risks becoming another bumper sticker in a $1 trillion defense budget.

FORTRESS America identifies five pillars: energy independence; supply chain and