New factory orders data released Wednesday confirm an extraordinary surge in American defense manufacturing, with orders for defense capital goods running 53 percent above last year’s pace through the first four months of 2026 as the military works to replenish equipment and munitions deployed in the Iran war. The Census Bureau’s full manufacturing orders report for April showed defense capital goods orders at $22.3 billion for the month, up 7.3 percent from March’s revised $20.8 billion. The month-over-month pace is striking enough, but the year-over-year comparison is more revealing: defense capital goods orders in April alone ran 91.6 percent above April 2025 levels, according to the not-seasonally-adjusted figures. Through April, defense capital goods orders total $72.7 billion, compared to $47.5 billion in the same period of 2025 — a gain of more than $25 billion, or 53 percent, in a single year. The surge has sharply elevated the defense sector’s share of overall capital goods orders. Through April, defense accounts for 15.7 percent of total capital goods orders, up from 11.7 percent in the first four months of 2025. Defense and AI infrastructure have together become the two dominant engines of American manufacturing demand in 2026. Critically, the surge in

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