Building Future Security: Strategies for Restructuring the Defense Technology and Industrial Base.
Abstract
The transformation of the global security environment is causing sweeping changes in the U.S. defense technology and industrial base (DTIB). The collapse of the Soviet military threat, which drove U.S. defense planning and spending for 40 years, combined with the urgency of domestic problems and the spiraling budget deficit, have generated pressures to reduce the defense budget by a third to a half over the next decade. Yet the Persian Gulf War illustrated the continuing need for an effective U.S. military establishment, supported by a smaller but still robust DTIB. Cuts in funding for defense research, development, production, and maintenance could impair the ability of the base to meet future national security needs unless the cuts are accompanied by changes in how the base is structured. As a result, the Nation needs to develop a comprehensive strategy for managing the downsizing of the DTIB while preserving the core capabilities essential for the development, production, and maintenance of major weapons and defense equipment. The broad outline of such a strategy was examined in an earlier OTA report, Redesigning Defense (See box 1-A.), and in three background papers. The previous report described some desirable characteristics of the future DTIB, which are listed in table 1-1. This report elaborates on the findings of the earlier OTA publications and examines in greater detail the specific policy choices involved in restructuring the DTIB over the next decade.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA344953