Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Small Business Administration chief Kelly Loeffler launched a Smaller War Plants initiative modeled on the Smaller War Plants Corporation, which Congress created in 1942 to support small wartime manufacturers through loans, contracts and technical assistance. The Pentagon says small firms account for roughly 70% of the defense industrial base. Hegseth said the effort would reduce dependence on foreign supply chains and turn industrial capacity into a generational battlefield advantage, while Loeffler said it would accelerate funding for companies expanding, innovating and hiring. The initiative follows a $20 million SBA Critical Suppliers Prize Competition, $50 million in awards to technical schools and community colleges, and Pentagon efforts to increase production of SM-3 interceptor components amid concerns about weapons inventories and domestic manufacturing capacity.