Pentagon's FORTRESS Plan Aims for 90-Day Military Base Independence

The United States Department of Defense is advancing its FORTRESS plan to ensure American military forces can sustain operations for at least 90 days, even if civilian infrastructure and global supply chains are severely affected. This initiative prepares military installations across the continental U.S. to operate independently in the event of a major conflict that could paralyze critical infrastructure, according to documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Central to FORTRESS is reducing military bases' reliance on civilian power grids. Proposed measures include portable nuclear reactors, large-scale battery storage, and microgrids, enabling installations to disconnect from external electricity networks during prolonged outages. Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell stated, "We don’t want to rely on standard civilian municipal infrastructure to run our national defense. We just simply can’t. It’s an intolerable risk," adding, "Power is combat now. Without electricity, you lose communications, water, logistics, assembly lines and just basic military command structures."

FORTRESS also addresses safeguarding military operations against shortages of weapons, fuel, medical supplies, electronics, spare parts, and critical minerals. The plan calls for strategic reserves and at least two qualified supply or production routes for essential defense requirements to reduce dependence on individual suppliers. Furthermore, the Pentagon is preparing civilian factories to switch to defense manufacturing during emergencies through the Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network.

This network involves assessing industrial capacity, establishing cybersecurity safeguards, and developing procedures to accelerate production during a crisis. The initiative reflects growing concerns that a major conflict could impact the U.S. homeland and its supporting military infrastructure. Parnell described the initiative as an "insurance policy for the American homeland," noting, "I realized that a lot of the way we think about homeland defense was built around the antiquated assumption that two oceans would protect us." FORTRESS also includes industrial stress tests and measures to protect military communications, navigation, and satellite systems against disruptions like GPS jamming.

What to watch: Ongoing implementation and testing of the FORTRESS plan's various components.

Editor's note: Comprehensive and accurate coverage incorporating all key details, quotes, and context from the source text.