Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci took to X on Monday with a blunt assessment of America's military machine: the world's largest defense budget has produced an industrial base that can't actually sustain a serious war. The reason, he says, is that the system is optimized for something else entirely.

"The world's largest military budget has produced an industrial base that cannot sustain a serious war," Scaramucci wrote. "How is that possible? Because the system is not designed to produce military capability. It is designed to produce contracts. The five largest defense contractors employ roughly a thousand lobbyists in Washington."

Scaramucci pointed out that major contractors deliberately spread their supply chains across forty-five states, making it politically painful for senators to cancel weapons programs that employ their constituents. "The current leadership will keep fiddling on this as they see our apathy as permission," he added.

The Iran Conflict Exposes the Gap

Scaramucci's critique comes amid growing concern from military analysts about the U.S. weapons burn rate during the Iran war. According to a Pentagon assessment cited by The Washington Post last week, the U.S. has fired more than 200 THAAD interceptors—roughly half its inventory—along with over 100 SM-3 and SM-6 missiles while helping Israel defend against Iranian attacks.

The Financial Times reported Sunday that Washington has warned Japan about potential delays in Tomahawk missile deliveries, as the Pentagon prioritizes replenishing stockpiles depleted during Operation Epic Fury. A late April analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that while the U.S. has enough munitions to continue the Iran war under plausible scenarios, depleted inventories create risks for future conflicts that could drag on for years.

Scaramucci's Prescription: A Naval Pivot

Scaramucci has used the industrial shortfall to argue for a leaner, naval-heavy posture that keeps U.S. forces at sea rather than in vulnerable land bases. He has also warned that a serious war with Iran could trigger economic shocks through the Strait of Hormuz and expose what he calls Washington's lack of strategic coherence.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has begun expanding THAAD and missile production capacity, but the effort remains tied to multiyear procurement and facility upgrades—exactly the kind of contract-driven approach Scaramucci criticizes.