By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with munitions manufacturers at the White House on Wednesday, as his administration seeks to expand weapons production after military operations in Iran and other conflicts have depleted U.S. stockpiles.

The United States has provided large quantities of weapons to its allies and has itself used a significant amount of ammunition in its military operations, raising concerns about vital stockpiles of air defense and precision-guided weapons and increasing pressure on contractors to ramp up production.

This meeting will be the second White House gathering focused on increasing weapons production with the CEOs of major defense companies. A previous meeting in March included CEOs and other officials from BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, and L3 Harris Technologies, along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

The meeting comes at a time when Pentagon negotiators are pressing contractors to move much faster, following preliminary production agreements reached earlier this year as part of those efforts.

The agreements include a deal with Lockheed Martin to triple production of Patriot interceptor missiles and quadruple production of THAAD interceptor missiles, both used to shoot down ballistic missiles. Separate, multi-year agreements with RTX include boosting production of Tomahawk cruise missiles and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. These agreements, announced as "framework agreements," have not yet been finalized as deals or contracts.

Five defense industry executives, who requested anonymity in the report, welcomed the agreements but stressed the need for congressional funding before companies can increase their investments in components and production capacity. They explained that investing before receiving government payments under these agreements would negatively impact free cash flow and potentially harm second-half earnings.

The US administration is intensifying pressure on defense contractors to prioritize production over dividend payouts to shareholders. Trump signed an executive order in January to identify companies deemed to be underperforming on government contracts while continuing to pay dividends to shareholders.

GM Defense, the defense business unit of the automaker, and Lockheed said the U.S. Department of Defense helped facilitate a partnership between the two companies due to increasing demand for additional production capacity.

The Senate Armed Services Committee this month approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, endorsing a total defense spending of $1.15 trillion and guaranteeing multi-year procurement authorization for numerous types of munitions and weapons. The bill is not expected to take effect until the fall, though separate appropriations or additional funding could be passed sooner.

Demand for air defense systems from the United States and its allies has increased amid escalating geopolitical tensions and the Iran war.