Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday refuted the idea that the U.S. is facing a crisis with its munitions stockpile, despite testifying earlier this year that replenishing the stockpile could take “months and years.”

“That is a manufactured story that the media wants to peddle and ultimately our stockpiles are great, and they’re only getting stronger,” Hegseth said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

Weeks after the ceasefire began in the war with Iran, Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request. During the April 30 hearing, Hegseth estimated that it could take “months and years” to replenish the stockpile as the Iran war had stretched on for months. Hegseth called the timeline “fast,” and he noted that the speed will depend on the weapon system.

Hegseth said at the time that “we’re building new plants in real time,” suggesting that production speed would increase, while citing depleted munitions levels left over from the Biden administration. 

Pressed by Margaret Brennan on Sunday about his previous comments, Hegseth said “I speculated some munitions take more time than others.”

He added, “we’ve got lots of them.”

The Defense Department has not disclosed how many munitions have been used so far in the Iran war. 

During an April Lockheed Martin earnings call, the defense contractor said it would take three to four years to scale up Patriot missile production from the current level of 650 per year to 2,000 per year. 

“We’re building more than ever before,” Hegseth said. “The Biden administration gave away hundreds of billions to Ukraine, and so President Trump had to refill, and he has, and we have, in real time.”

Hegseth’s comments came after he was asked by Brennan about Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy’s request to produce Patriot missiles.

“Nobody makes better and more munitions than the United States of America, and we are open to co-production wherever we can,” Hegseth said. “And because of this administration, we’re supercharging our arsenal of freedom — building more, building faster, opening up the Pentagon, ripping through the Pentagon bureaucracy, to force industry to move faster.”

“Our stockpiles are strong and will only get stronger in the future,” he added. 

Regional officials told CBS News in March that Arab states in the Gulf are running low on interceptors to take down Iranian-fired missiles. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine pushed back on that assessment at the time, saying that there were sufficient “precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense.”

Hegseth’s testimony in April came in response to questioning by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. Kelly also appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday and cited the testimony, saying “of course we have a munitions issue.”

“I think it’s widely understood that when you attack over 10,000 targets from the air with cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and bombs from airplanes, you are using a lot of munitions, and we do not have an endless supply of these things,” Kelly said. “So now we’re in a posture where we’ve got to be incredibly careful.”