Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is visiting Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility and SpaceX’s Starbase site in Brownsville today as part of a broader tour of U.S. defense industry operations.
The Pentagon says the stops are part of the “Arsenal of Freedom” tour Hegseth launched last fall.
“For too long, Pentagon bureaucracy has hindered the speed and might of our manufacturing base, obstructing innovation and warfare solutions from companies like SpaceX and Lockheed Martin. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are unleashing the full power of our Defense Industrial Base (DIB) to advance our Peace Through Strength agenda,” the Department of War wrote in a statement.
Hegseth will tour the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth where the company builds the F-35 Lightning II. Lockheed Martin says it set a record last year by delivering 191 F-35s.
The Department of War says Hegseth will then travel to Brownsville to meet with SpaceX Founder Elon Musk and employees at the plant. Hegseth will also administer the oath of enlistment to new troops.
“This tour is intended to fuel a revival of our Defense Industrial Base, ensuring it can supply America’s finest with technologically superior products at the speed of relevance. This guarantees our dominance not just for today, but for generations to come,” the agency wrote.
Senator John Cornyn says he plans to travel with Hegseth Monday. In voting for Hegseth’s confirmation last year, Cornyn said President Donald Trump “promised to restore American dominance on the world stage and enact his peace-through-strength agenda following years of weakness under Joe Biden.”
“I am confident my friend Pete Hegseth will play an invaluable role in carrying out that mission at a time when our nation and our world need it most. With Pete at the helm, the status quo will be shaken up and the warrior spirit will finally be restored at the Pentagon,” Cornyn wrote in a statement.
Hegseth is scheduled to speak at the plant at 5:30 p.m.
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