Pete Hegseth visits Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth

Pete Hegseth addresses Lockheed Martin employees in Fort Worth

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke to Lockheed Martin employees in Fort Worth on his 'Arsenal of Freedom' tour.

FORT WORTH, Texas - U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke to Lockheed Martin employees Monday afternoon as part of "a revival of our Defense Industrial Base".

What we know:

Pete Hegseth visited Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth F-35 production plant this afternoon.

The visit was billed as part of his ‘Arsenal of Freedom" industry tour, designed to advance President Donald Trump's "Peace Through Strength" agenda.

He addressed Lockheed Martin employees and the local press on the administration's defense plans.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) was in attendance with Hegseth during the visit.

Following the visit, Hegseth and Cornyn departed for Brownsville, Texas to visit SpaceX alongside Elon Musk.

Previous visits on the tour include a Rocket Lab manufacturing plant in Long Beach, California.

US Sec. of War Pete Hegseth to be in Fort Worth today

The U.S. Secretary of Defense will make his way to North Texas later today as part of a new tour.

What they're saying:

"We're rebuilding our military. That's why we're here doing the Arsenal of Freedom tour," Hegseth told Lockheed Martin employees today. "That's why we're here in Texas. We were in Los Angeles. We were in Mississippi. We're going to go across the country over the next couple of months talking to companies, to industry… large and small."

"We need them all, and we need it moving fast, at scale, at cost," Hegseth continued. "We are rebuilding the arsenal of freedom."

"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," the Department of Defense said in a press release. 

"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 release continued.