‘Screw’ Disrupts US Missile Industry

In the US administration’s push to ramp up missile and ammunition production and replenish depleted weapons systems, US defense industries face an obstacle that appears marginal at first glance: a “tiny, highly precise metal screw” whose procurement could take years and threatens to slow the production of advanced missiles, according to a New York Times report.

According to the report, the so-called “precision ball screw” is a key component in the manufacture of Patriot missiles, humanoid-like robots, and aircraft. The United States is suffering from a shortage of companies capable of producing it in the required quantities and specifications.

This ball screw contains self-recirculating balls that reduce friction and convert rotational motion into linear motion. It resembles a screw thread, and few outside a small circle of metalworking machinists and engineers have ever heard of it.

Yet in military applications and missile manufacturing, it requires exceptional levels of precision. Production often takes a year, and the cost of a single unit can exceed $1,000.

As the Trump administration works to replace or upgrade weapons systems depleted by the war in Iran, this screw is in short supply, adding months—or even years—to the time required to produce a missile.

According to Al Arabiya Net, Nick Colar, Executive Vice President of Sales for Aerospace, Defense, and Space sectors at Italy’s Umbra Group, which owns a plant in Michigan, said this component has “created a bottleneck,” estimating that demand has risen by as much as 50 percent since 2020.