The Act defined a defense article as more than a weapon, munition, aircraft, vessel, or boat. Machinery, facilities, tools, materials, components, and even agricultural or industrial commodities could qualify when needed for defense production or operation. Defense information separately included plans, specifications, designs, prototypes, and other knowledge attached to those articles. The president could authorize manufacture in government arsenals, factories, and shipyards or procurement through funded contracts. Disposal of certain articles not originally procured under the program required consultation with the Army chief of staff, the chief of naval operations, or both.
Chapter · 22:26-24:29
Defense articles include factories, commodities, and technical knowledge
The statute reached beyond finished weapons to the machinery, materials, designs, and production capacity needed to make and sustain them.