The Secretary of Defense may maintain a list of all privately owned plants in the United States, and the territories, Commonwealths, and possessions of the United States, that are equipped to manufacture for the armed forces arms or ammunition, or parts thereof, and may obtain complete information of the kinds of those products manufactured or capable of being manufactured by each of those plants, and of the equipment and capacity of each of those plants.

The Secretary of Defense may maintain a list of privately owned plants in the United States, and the territories, Commonwealths, and possessions of the United States, that are capable of being readily transformed into factories for the manufacture of ammunition for the armed forces and that have a capacity sufficient to warrant conversion into ammunition plants in time of war or when war is imminent, and may obtain complete information as to the equipment of each of those plants.

The Secretary of Defense may prepare comprehensive plans for converting each plant listed pursuant to subsection (b) into a factory for the manufacture of ammunition or parts thereof.