Feb. 16, 2022
Air Force Magazine
The Defense Department faces a future of high-price, sole-source contracts, reduced innovation, and possible critical shortages if it doesn’t take steps to increase competition and the number of suppliers in the defense industrial base, according to a new Pentagon report. But changing the conditions creating the situation won’t be easy, it said.
To prevent these issues, the U.S. must limit further defense industry consolidation; fix intellectual property issues; attract new businesses to the industry—especially small businesses—and put “sector-specific supply chain resiliency plans” into effect for critical items, ranging from missiles to castings, strategic metals, and microelectronics, according to the report, released Feb. 15.
Pentagon Report: State-of-Competition-Within-the-Defense-Industrial-Base