Pentagon's FORTRESS plan aims to keep US bases running 90 days without outside supply

Scope of the 90-day requirement

The Pentagon is preparing large military installations on the continental United States to keep operating for at least 90 days without outside support, according to Fox News, which reported the plan on Sunday, 25 October. Documents reviewed by the network say the bases should have electricity, water, fuel and communications for that period without relying on the civilian services that also serve the public. The bases would run on their own systems rather than on the networks that supply the rest of the population. The aim is to protect command, transport, communications and weapons production from disruption if a large armed conflict damages the power grid or cuts international supply lines. The program, called FORTRESS (Forteca in Polish coverage), is to cover every large military facility on the continent.

Power, fuel and stockpiles

To reduce dependence on the grid, the Pentagon is studying portable nuclear reactors, large battery systems and independent microgrids that could keep bases running through long blackouts. The plan also calls for strategic reserves of ammunition, fuel, minerals, electronic components, spare parts and medical supplies, so the armed forces could keep working if international supply routes were interrupted. Key items would need at least two reliable suppliers or production routes, so that the loss of one factory would not leave forces short. Civilian factories would be identified in advance, along with the changes they would need, from retooled machinery to security requirements, so they could switch to military output in a crisis. The civilian production sector would also be prepared for wartime mobilization.

The Pentagon's reasoning

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, told Fox News that relying on standard civilian urban infrastructure for national defense is an unacceptable risk. He said electricity directly determines whether troops can operate, because a power cut also disrupts communications, water supplies, logistics, production lines and basic command structures. Energy supply, he said, must be independent, protected and backed up. Parnell argued that the long-held view that two oceans protect the United States is out of date. He linked the change to President Donald Trump, saying the president understands that the old world is gone and has already opened the way for new thinking, citing the Golden Dome project, renewed attention to the Western Hemisphere, Greenland and Panama.

Multi-front warning and open questions

Parnell also said the next conflict would probably be fought on several fronts, and that global supply chains would break once a large war begins. He pointed to the geopolitics behind every large war as the basis for that assessment. The program therefore assumes that weapons, equipment and raw materials could be delayed or cut at the same time as domestic power fails. No cost or completion date for the program has been given. The new standard also covers the other services needed to keep bases running through a prolonged crisis, and the program is described as an extension of earlier Pentagon efforts to reduce reliance on civilian power networks. The Pentagon has called the effort an insurance policy for the whole country.