Creating a 21st century defense industry : hearing before the Panel on Business Challenges within the Defense Industry of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, hearing held November 18, 2011.

An expert explains why the security needs of the twenty-first century require a transformation of the defense industry of the twentieth century. New geopolitical realities—including terrorism, pandemics, rogue nuclear states, resource conflicts, insurgencies, mass migration, economic collapse, and cyber attacks—have created a dramatically different national-security environment for America. Twentieth-century defense strategies, technologies, and industrial practices will not meet the security requirements of a post-9/11 world. In Democracy's Arsenal, Jacques Gansler describes the transformations needed in government and industry to achieve a new, more effective system of national defense. Drawing on his decades of experience in industry, government, and academia, Gansler argues that the old model of ever-increasing defense expenditures on largely outmoded weapons systems must be replaced by a strategy that combines a healthy economy, effective international relations, and a strong (but affordable) national security posture. The defense industry must remake itself to become responsive and relevant to the needs of twenty-first-century security.

In our hearings on the issue, we have heard from a variety of witnesses in the field and the Department of Defense about the current challenges and future projections regarding the United States defense industrial base. The conversation thus far has been very informative as each and every person we meet with brings a unique perspective about how to learn from our past failures and establish stability in the industrial base. Today we continue that dialogue by focusing on the future. In doing so we are asking some very basic questions regarding a complex subject matter. What can we do to adapt the current environment to meet the needs of the 21st-century security strategy? What can we learn from other nations who are implementing strategies that deal with this critical issue? What changes are necessary in our workforce and acquisition policies to meet that vision?

Defence Industries in the 21st Century explores the transformation in the global defence industrial production through examining the interaction between international and domestic factors. With the global defence industry and arms market likely continue to expand and mature, the ways in which this progression could influence international politics remain obscure. In practice, as the contents of this book show, the defence industrial bases and arms export policies of emerging states display significant variance. This variance is the result of a unique balance between domestic and international factors that has shaped the defence industrialisation behaviour and policies of the less industrialised states. One of the most important conclusions of the book is that the interplay between domestic and international factors clearly influences the variation in the emerging states’ defence industrialisation policies, as well as their success or failure. While international factors create opportunities, they also limit the options available to emerging economies. Domestic factors also play an important role by shaping the policy choices of the states’ decision makers. Exploring the balance between international and domestic factors and the ways in which they influence defence industrialisation in emerging states, Defence Industries in the 21st Century will be of great interest to scholars of Defence Industries, Arms Manufacturing, and Defence, Strategic and Security Studies more generally. The chapters were originally published in Defence Studies, Comparative Strategy and All Azimuth.

"A Council on Foreign Relations book"--Cover.

A reorientation of the international security environment and a revolution in military affairs has occurred. As a result, the Defense Industrial Base (DIB)'s controlling policies, practices, laws and the Services budgets and requirements priorities do not match present needs. Numerous environmental factors have contributed to this disparity, with the most influential being the rise of a holistic view of security, future unpredictability, the impact of globalization, and changes within the structure of the defense industry. In light of these factors, several important assumptions about the future environment must be made. Our research indicates that a continuation of irregular threats and conflicts will likely occur, and defense budgetary pressures will grow stronger. Concurrently, the rapid growth of technology will continue to complicate how defense issues are approached. All of these issues will be influential factors for twenty-first century defense planning. In order to meet the demands of the future, we recommend that the United States must be able to create an effective, agile, and affordable joint military force by forming a robust, responsive, efficient and innovative DIB. It must also update its policies and practices to permit the effective creation, acquisition management and support of large, complex systems, systems-of-systems and services. To accomplish these goals, decision-makers must consider and overcome several barriers. On the whole, government policies, processes and management of the defense enterprise are not organized in a manner that would effectively facilitate the transition to a twenty-first century military force. Reductions in the DoD acquisition workforce also make transformation a difficult task, as the skills and people required are not available.