The THAAD Delusion
The story of a missile system placed in a role for which it was never intended illuminates the broader challenges facing the U.S. military.
America’s Manufacturing Reckoning: Automation, Skills, and Reshoring
Igus CEO Felix Brockmeyer argues that automation alone cannot close the gap without rebuilding hands-on training and domestic supplier capacity.
Embraer Eyes a $500 Million U.S. Tanker Factory
The aircraft maker says a domestic KC-390 production line could land on Florida’s Space Coast if it first secures a significant U.S. government order.
Inside the Effort to Get America’s Heavy Icebreaker Program Back on Track
Bollinger is rebuilding shipyard skills and production capacity as the Coast Guard’s long-delayed Polar Security Cutter moves through construction.
Can U.S. Automakers Compete in the Era of Dark Factories?
Detroit manufacturers are testing AI-powered inspection, collaborative robots, and lights-out production while confronting workforce tradeoffs.
A Data-Driven Ranking of America’s Solar Manufacturing Base
A new ratings pyramid evaluates 22 U.S. solar manufacturers on actual production and capital spending rather than announced capacity.
AI: After the DC Summit, ‘RAMageddon’ Takes Center Stage
Why America’s thin memory-chip manufacturing base leaves AI infrastructure exposed to shortages, long fab timelines, and self-defeating tariff risks.
Conducting a Gigawatt Symphony
A layer-by-layer technical and economic model of the power, cooling, silicon, networks, and software behind xAI’s Memphis compute complex.
Goss report: Tariffs, inflation put pressure on Iowa manufacturers
A nine-state manufacturing survey shows regional expansion alongside Iowa job losses, farm-equipment weakness, higher input costs and tariff-driven uncertainty.
WHOOSH, Go Orders at US Manufacturers of ‘Core Capital Goods,’ Fueled by the AI Infrastructure Boom
Orders received by US-located manufacturers of core capital goods spiked by 14% YoY, of machinery by 15%, of IT equipment by 16%.
We Shouldn't Be Playing China's Game
A market-oriented critique argues that unstable tariffs and state ownership can weaken high-productivity U.S. manufacturers by raising input costs and making America a less predictable trading partner.
Eli Lilly Advances U.S. Manufacturing Buildout
Industrial Info Resources maps Lilly's Houston groundbreaking into a broader U.S. manufacturing program spanning active-ingredient plants, injectable medicines, device production, and process-development capacity.
U.S. Battery-Storage Sector Faces New Hurdles, Despite Growth
More than $6 billion in U.S. battery-storage projects are slated to start construction in the fourth quarter, even as new sourcing rules threaten a market that still depends heavily on foreign components.
U.S. Textiles Sector Gains Ground with New Construction
More than $850 million in current and planned U.S. textile construction is concentrated in specialty fabrics, automotive applications, and textile recycling rather than traditional apparel.
Korea's first US investment hinges on long-term power buyers
The planned 6.3-gigawatt Encinal power project is designed around Texas data-center demand, but its long-term buyers and commercial assumptions remain unsettled.
Stanford partners with Trump administration on manufacturing school
Stanford and seven other universities will build an advanced-manufacturing curriculum spanning factory design, supply chains, precision tooling, automation and quality systems.
America’s Allies Are Done Trying to Wait Trump Out
They now figure isolationism and protectionism will be U.S. foreign policy for a long time to come.
GM delivers first PAC-3 components to Lockheed Martin
General Motors’ defense subsidiary provided the components 22 days after it signed an agreement with the weapons maker.
Gov. Newsom vetoes bill narrowing CEQA advanced manufacturing exemption
The legislation would have added hurdles and compliance costs for facility projects in the state, industry groups said.
Agility debuts ‘first cooperatively safe humanoid,’ a milestone in robotics
Additionally, Universal Robots and Fanuc America introduced new robots at IMTS in Chicago.
Tooling Shipments Continue to Rise
A double-digit year-over-year increase in deliveries proves there is broad-based growth underway in manufacturing - though inflation is affecting prices, and a supply chain problem is lurking.
Texas Plant Proves Onshoring Works, But at a Cost: Thomas Black
MP Materials' new Fort Worth permanent-magnet factory shows both the promise and the cost of rebuilding a U.S. rare-earth manufacturing chain.
A big chemical company is trying a new way to recycle. Neighbors are worried.
W.R. Grace & Co. says emissions from its plastics-recycling machine in suburban Maryland are so minimal they flow from a tube about the size of a drinking straw.
‘It’s awful’: How tariffs, soaring fuel costs and higher interest rates are squeezing American companies
CNBC reports how simultaneous increases in import, energy, and borrowing costs are pressuring U.S. manufacturers, auto suppliers, logistics firms, and retailers.
IMTS 2026: Where Connections Become Solutions
The largest U.S. manufacturing-technology show closed with more than 90,000 registrants and evidence that domestic factories are pairing renewed investment with automation, industrial AI, and regionalized supply chains.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17
U.S. manufacturing output fell 0.3% in August after seven monthly gains, while factory utilization slipped to 75.7% and defense-and-space equipment output declined 1.2%.
America’s critical-materials buildout has a feedstock problem
New U.S. processing plants still face a basic constraint: too little recoverable material, too little midstream capacity, and difficult economics for keeping critical-mineral feedstock onshore.
Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: September 2026 Report
Regional manufacturers reported higher production and strong orders, but 72% said labor supply constrained capacity and 60% reported at least some supply-chain constraint.
Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership Funding Restored
A $6.1 million federal grant restores plant-floor support for Ohio's small and midsize manufacturers under a new administrator and tighter oversight.
Germany, US to expand shared production of Patriot interceptors, strike missiles
A new bilateral framework would add allied manufacturing and sustainment capacity when scarce U.S. missile supply chains are overwhelmed.
Restarting C-17 Production? 'Heck Yeah!' Says Air Mobility Commander
The Air Force's next-generation airlift study will examine whether a decade-idled C-17 assembly line can be revived or whether a new platform is the better industrial bet.
Defense Industrial Base Requires Energy Security
Surge production depends on the grid: munitions factories, precision machine tools, and defense data systems all require resilient generation and transmission.
SK Hynix in talks with Intel about deal to make memory chips in the US for the first time, sources say
Exploratory talks could put memory-chip fabrication at Intel's planned Ohio complex, but cost and South Korean technology controls remain significant hurdles.
Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Business Activity Grows Modestly
New York manufacturers reported continued growth in September, but longer delivery times, worsening supply availability, and faster input-price increases complicate the headline. Employment and hours strengthened while capital-spending plans remained modest.
US Machine Tool Orders Still Rising
Machine-tool demand remained historically strong through July, giving a forward-looking view of where American manufacturers are adding capacity. Automation-heavy orders and electrical-equipment demand tied to grid and data-center construction are doing much of the lifting.
Zach Dell bets a battery fleet can solve America’s AI power crunch
Base Power is turning thousands of household batteries into a software-coordinated grid resource while building manufacturing capacity in Texas. The model links factory scale-up, distributed storage, and the electricity bottleneck created by rapid data-center growth.
US manufacturers hit by fresh burst of supply chain cost inflation
American factories are paying more for energy, freight, steel, aluminum, and electronics while policy uncertainty holds back new capacity. The reporting distinguishes today's cost shock from pandemic-era physical scarcity and shows how AI infrastructure demand is tightening component supply.
Biotechnology to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains: A Case Study on Copper
A congressional biotechnology commission maps the U.S. copper-processing chokepoint and argues that domestic biomining can bypass scarce smelting capacity. Its recommendations connect pilot infrastructure, defense procurement, and patient capital to industrial-scale deployment.
Cheaper Reaper? Swarm Aero Unveils Gamera
An on-the-floor report on an Arkansas startup's clean-sheet, mass-producible aircraft designed around lower cost, modularity, and manufacturing at scale.
Everything We Just Learned About The Vectis Collaborative Combat Aircraft From The Skunk Works
TWZ details the digital engineering and low-touch assembly methods Lockheed says are accelerating its Vectis prototype and preparing the design for affordable production.
US turns to $2bn tungsten stockpile deal as critical minerals become defence bottleneck
A close look at how a long-term tungsten procurement framework and upstream investment are being used to reduce a critical U.S. defense-production vulnerability.
The Reindustrialization of America Is Underway
Apollo's thematic-investing chief examines the shocks, policy shifts, investment trends, and financing needs behind the rebuilding of the U.S. industrial base.
Manufacturing Technology Orders Exceed $500M for 5th Consecutive Month
New U.S. metalworking machinery orders reached $605.8 million in July, lifting the seven-month total to $4.03 billion.
Colorado aerospace leaders warn of eroding business climate as competitor states step up
A new industry report argues that business costs and policy friction threaten a $14 billion aerospace sector supporting thousands of companies.
Data centers swarm rural Cedar Creek, leaving neighbors on edge
Boom go the data centers in a woodsy part of Central Texas
Manufacturers flock to Bastrop County during uneasy time spurred by tariffs
Have import taxes been good or bad? Yes to both
Headlines: Investing In a Modern Force
A defense-acquisition briefing on production scale, capital investment, munitions capacity, industrial-base labor, and the shift toward unmanned systems.
Rare Earth Production in the US Shows Signs of Life
China may have overplayed its hand.
Arizona’s lifeline for chip manufacturing is drying up
Water is about to get more expensive in America’s new silicon valley.
Why Hyundai is raising its local sourcing goal in North America
The automaker plans to source 80% of parts for regional vehicle manufacturing from local suppliers by 2030.
Analyzing the US data center construction boom
A data-driven look at the top developers, most active states, and physical bottlenecks shaping the project pipeline.
Georgia bet big on EV manufacturing. Trump pulled the plug.
It’s a grim moment for what was a booming industry in the state. But EV makers are still forging ahead.
U.S. reindustrialization and AI reinforce each other while competing for shared resources
The two buildouts share demand for power, equipment, labor, land, and capital—making deliverable capacity more valuable than announced pipelines.
Reshoring Turned the Lights Back on for Made-in-USA LEDs
GoodBulb’s Fargo line is a detailed case study in using automation, flexible production, and total-cost accounting to reshore a commodity product. It also shows the unfinished work: key electronic components still come from overseas.
More OEMs plan reshoring investments despite tariff, cost uncertainty
A new manufacturer survey shows reshoring activity rising while satisfaction falls and policy uncertainty remains the dominant obstacle. The split results offer a grounded view of both the momentum and limits of the current factory push.
Lawfare Daily: Mike Schmidt Talks CHIPS and U.S. Industrial Policy
The former head of the CHIPS Program Office explains how semiconductor incentives changed the geography of leading-edge investment. The conversation also draws practical lessons for industrial policy in other national-security sectors.
Made in America, again? Rethinking US manufacturing resilience
McKinsey maps America’s most consequential import dependencies and estimates the cost of rebuilding critical capacity. The discussion argues for targeting genuine supply-chain Achilles’ heels instead of treating the entire trade deficit as equally urgent.
U.S. supply chains in transition: Reindustrialization and supply-chain reconfiguration are creating new opportunities
The manufacturing renaissance is real in targeted sectors, but the broader shift is better understood as selective regionalization and redundancy. This analysis separates strategic reconfiguration from a wholesale return of production.
Record factory investment still couldn’t stop U.S. manufacturing imports from hitting a four-year high
New plants and capital spending have not yet translated into broad self-sufficiency. The authors trace how sourcing shifted away from China toward other low-cost countries faster than production returned to the United States.
How America Can Reduce Its Dependence on Chinese Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)
A detailed roadmap for rebuilding and diversifying U.S. medicine inputs through domestic manufacturing innovation, Puerto Rico’s existing base, and near- and friend-shoring partnerships.