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B-24 bombers under production during World War II. (Photo by Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images) Getty Images Today, the United States faces a defense industrial base inflection point. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, defense contractors producing America’s defense arsenal have been motivated to seek efficiencies versus what it takes to deliver combat effectiveness at scale. Now, with threats facing America greater than ever before, U.S. officials are seeking to reverse this dynamic: they want weapon system production fast, in high volume, and at lower price points. Many firms are struggling to adjust, which has set off a major debate over the need to radically reset the defense industrial base. Do the prime U.S. defense contractors have a major role in this reset, or does the future increasingly lie with new entrants? Congressional legislation in the form of the FORGED and SPEED Acts speak to many of these concerns. If confusion remains on the issue, Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll clarified it recently by explaining: “I will measure it as success if in the next two years, one of the primes is no longer in business, and the rest of them have all gotten stronger.” The reality is that America’s future security should not involve an either-or choice between established defense firms and new entrants into the business. Success demands an encompassing approach for all industrial base actors, new and proven. Of equal importance, a successful reset requires the government to provide appropriate funding, acquisition program stability, and policies that encourage desired results. America takes tremendous pride in its heritage as the “arsenal of democracy.” Whether in World War I, World War II, or the Cold War, a key part of our nation’s identity was surging war production to secure victory. Time and again, we have been caught…

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Filed under: News - @ October 24, 2025 6:26 pm