New Defense Priorities and the Defense Industrial Base
Abstract
As the United States' defense priorities change in the coming decade and defense resources decline, the U.S. Government and the Department of Defense (DoD) must proactively shape the American defense industrial base and ensure that the technologies and capabilities critical to military success are protected. After the end of the Cold War, the DoD budget declined sharply and facilitated a major contraction of the defense industrial base which saw over 50 major defense suppliers consolidated into only a half dozen, dominant defense firms. The United States cannot allow its industrial base to disintegrate as it did in the early 1990s. The Government needs to decidedly determine the future strategy of the military and appropriately invest in the critical technologies or capabilities that enhance this strategy. While ruthlessly investing, or divesting, appropriately, the DoD can exploit globalization and employ existing but little used laws and regulations to ensure the survival of these critical technologies and capabilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 22, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA561938
Entities
People
- Gordon Wallace
Organizations
- United States Army War College