Defense industry

“ The largest challenges may be to shape and exploit this commercial potential and then to ensure that its enduring advantages become fundamental in the makeup of our military forces. Unlike the defense industrial base required during the Cold War, this new commercial base is neither heavy nor is it a massive industry relying on producing large things. ”

“ An industry capable of rapid expansion and essential materials and facilities swiftly available in time of emergency are indispensable to our defense. I urge, therefore, a two-year extension of the Defense Production Act and Title II of the First War Powers Act of 1941. These are cornerstones of our program for the development and maintenance of an adequate mobilization base. ”

“ The State shall formulate masterplans to develop science, technology, and industry for national defense, and keep national defense research and production capabilities appropriately scaled and rationally distributed in accordance with the principles of State-led development, division of labor and cooperation, matching of specialties, openness, and integration. ”

“ The issue that brings me here today is central to the security of all Americans: the future of the United States military: How it should be organized, equipped – and funded – in the years ahead, to win the wars we are in while being prepared for threats on or beyond the horizon. Earlier this year, I recommended to President Obama – and he enthusiastically agreed – that we needed to fundamentally reshape the priorities of America’s defense establishment and reform the way the Pentagon does business – in particular, the weapons we buy, and how we buy them. ”

“ The United States must have an industrial and technology base capable of meeting national defense requirements, and capable of contributing to the technological superiority of its defense equipment in peacetime and in times of national emergency. The domestic industrial and technological base is the foundation for national defense preparedness. ”

“ As we move to turn this concept into specific doctrine and capabilities for future evaluation, there is another emerging reality to consider. If the commercial-economic sector is transforming at the current rate and breadth, it could be that, over the course of many years, the defense industrial base would follow suit, or face irrelevance and extinction. Clearly, there are certain areas in defense which will never or may never be eliminated or replaced. Nuclear systems are a current example. ”

“ With these technologies, defense companies can create new products and new jobs.
Americans have the ingenuity to adapt to changing times. On Thursday I visited a defense plant just outside Baltimore that is using military technology to make products for commercial use. ”

“ I want to make it clear that it is the purpose of the nation to build now with all possible speed every machine, every arsenal, every factory that we need to manufacture our defense material. We have the men- the skill- the wealth- and above all, the will.
I am confident that if and when production of consumer or luxury goods in certain industries requires the use of machines and raw materials that are essential for defense purposes, then such production must yield, and will gladly yield, to our primary and compelling purpose. ”

“ I will vigorously pursue the Strategic Defense Initiative. The spread, and even use, of sophisticated weaponry threatens global security as never before. Chemical weapons must be banned from the face of the Earth, never to be used again. ”

“ There is another reason why the private manufacturers of war materials should be encouraged by the government, and it is that, in the event of war, the government would find the large capital and plants of the wealthy Steel Trust, the Bethlehem Steel Company, and the du Ponts available for the purpose of national defense in addition to the government's own resources. ”

“ Defense-related enterprises and institutions are regulated and guided to make use of civilian industrial capabilities and social capital to conduct research into and production of weaponry and equipment. ”

“ Innovation within the armed forces will rest on experimentation with new approaches to warfare, strengthening joint operations, exploiting U.S. intelligence advantages, and taking full advantage of science and technology.We must also transform the way the Department of Defense is run, especially in financial management and recruitment and retention. ”

“ We have been constantly besought to engage in competitive armaments. Frequent reports will reach us of the magnitude of the military equipment of other, nations. We shall do well to be little impressed by such reports or such actions. Any nation undertaking to maintain a military establishment with aggressive and imperialistic designs will find itself severely handicapped in the economic development of the world. I believe thoroughly in the Army and Navy, in adequate defense and preparation. But I am opposed to any policy of competition in building and maintaining land or sea armaments. ”

“ I ask you to remember that what we are doing is to provide the best and most modern military equipment in the world for our fighting forces.
This kind of defense production program has two parts.
The first part is to get our defense production going as fast as possible. We have to convert plants and channel materials to defense production. This means heavy cuts in civilian uses of copper, aluminum, rubber, and other essential materials. It means shortages in various consumer goods.
The second part is to increase our capacity to produce and to keep our economy strong for the long pull. ”

“ Statement of Policy.—It is the policy of the United States that— `` (1) to ensure the adequacy of productive capacity and supply, Federal departments and agencies that are responsible for national defense acquisition should continuously assess the capability of the domestic industrial base to satisfy production requirements under both peacetime and emergency conditions, specifically evaluating the availability of adequate production sources, including subcontractors and suppliers, materials, skilled labor, and professional and technical personnel ”

“ We will enhance our capacity for innovation in defense-related science and technology and step up the development of advanced logistics and equipment. We will strengthen national defense mobilization and readiness of reserve forces. We will continue to promote coordinated, balanced, and compatible development of the economy and national defense, deepen structural reform of defense-related science and technology industries, and intensify military-civilian integration. ”

“ All members of our forces must be ever mindful that they serve under a single flag and for a single cause.
We must effectively integrate our armament programs and plan them in such careful relation to our industrial facilities that we assure the best use of our manpower and our materials.
Because of the complex technical nature of our military organization and because of the security reasons involved, the Secretary of Defense must take the initiative and assume the responsibility for developing plans to give our Nation maximum safety at minimum cost. ”

“ Of all these, one of the most important to our nation's security is strategic planning and control. This work must be done under unified direction.
The defense structure must be one which, as a whole, can assume, with top efficiency and without friction, the defense of America. The Defense establishment must therefore plan for a better integration of its defensive resources, particularly with respect to the newer weapons now building and under development. These obviously require full coordination in their development, production and use. Good organization can help assure this coordination. ”

“ Develop control systems for priorities, allocation, production, and distribution of materials and other resources that will be available to support both national defense and essential civilian programs in a national security emergency; (2) In cooperation with the Secretary of Defense and other departments and agencies, identify those industrial products and facilities that are essential to mobilization readiness, national defense, or post-attack survival and recovery ”

“ More to the point, if even well funded and aggressive technology development organizations such as DARPA find it difficult to remain ahead of commercial advancements, there may be a fundamental lesson to be learned regarding the management of defense-related technologies. ”

“ Of course we are all aware that new tasks of stupendous proportions are being undertaken by the country as measures for national defense, and that while a large army is being recruited and trained, a still larger army is being drawn into industrial production to equip and support the army and navy directly on the lines of defense. ”

“ Let me be clear about our research and testing program on strategic defense technologies. Our goal is to make the world safer through development of nonnuclear security shields that would protect people by preventing weapons from reaching their targets and, hopefully, render ballistic missiles obsolete. Your own government has been conducting longstanding and extensive programs on its own defensive systems, including advanced research. The United States is just beginning a long process of investigating defenses. ”

“ The advent of revolutionary new devices, bringing with them the problem of overall continental defense, creates new difficulties, reminiscent of those attending the advent of the airplane half a century ago.
Some of the important new weapons which technology has produced do not fit into any existing service pattern. They cut across all services, involve all services, and transcend all services, at every stage from development to operation. ”

“ Leading the development of improved analytical skills and competencies within the cost assessment and program evaluation workforce of the Department of Defense and improved tools, data, and methods to promote performance, economy, and efficiency in analyzing national security planning and the allocation of defense resources.". ”

“ In the United States, one of the most urgent reasons for having an automatically acting system of national defense perfectly organized in advance and ready in case of emergency, is to insure the continuance of the industries of the country without interruption, and to prevent any industrial [Pg 117] depression or interference with the prosperity of the country. A system of national defense would fail of its purpose if it crippled industries by drawing away their labor. ”

“ This is especially so in the current age of sophisticated defense systems and of growing dependence among all countries on modern technology for all aspects of their economic strength. For these reasons, scientific and technological considerations have been integral elements of the Administration's decision-making on such national security and foreign policy issues as the modernization of our strategic weaponry, arms control, technology transfer, the growing bilateral relationship with China, and our relations with the developing world. ”

“ This plan helps defense firms to make the transition to a commercial economy. It takes military technologies developed with American tax dollars during the cold war and puts them to use in the civilian economy. It will create thousandsand thousands of jobs in the years ahead all across our Nation. It's just part of a national defense conversion plan that totals $20 billion in new investment over 5 years.
We've taken other steps to strengthen the value of work, our families, and the communities we live in. ”

“ The appropriation of vast sums of money and a well coordinated executive direction of our defense efforts are not in themselves enough. Guns, planes, ships and many other things have to be built in the factories and arsenals of America. They have to be produced by workers and managers and engineers with the aid of machines which in turn have to be built by hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the land. ”

“ The first of these jobs is to move ahead full steam on the defense program.
Our objective is to have a well-equipped active defense force large enough--in concert with the forces of our allies--to deter aggression and to inflict punishing losses on the enemy immediately if we should be attacked. This active force must be backed by adequate reserves, and by the plants and tools to turn out the tremendous quantities of new weapons that would be needed if war came. ”

“ Central government bodies, local people's governments at all levels, and relevant military bodies shall, in accordance with their respective prescribed functions and powers, administer and execute border defense, maritime defense, air defense, and defense of other criticalsecurity domains, in a joint effort to safeguard national security and interests. ”

“ When America entered the war, problems and needs rose up at every hand, like dragons springing from the ground, and all of them, in all their number and complexity and variety, had to be met and conquered at the same time. None of them was more difficult than this problem of the creation of a munitions industry, for it demanded a highly specialized manufacturing equipment of enormous capacity and great variety which we did not have, concerning which we had in the past known but little and for which we had always had slight regard. ”

“ It endeavors to establish and improve systems of weaponry and equipment research and manufacturing, military personnel training, and logistical support, that integrate military with civilian purposes and combine military efforts with civilian support. China vigorously and steadily advances reform of national defense and the armed forces, strengthens strategic planning and management, and endeavors to promote the scientific development of the national defense and armed forces. ”