Abstract
Over the coming decade America will be facing a critical period in terms of both its national security posture and its economy. In defence, we can anticipate fundamental changes as a result of the likely reversal of the Reagan era defence budget buildup, the development of totally new generations of weapon systems (“ceramic” tanks, “plastic” aircraft, SDI space weaponry, etc. ), and a crying need to reduce the incredible costs of individual weapon systems. On the national economy side, there is the huge deficit, the lopsided trade balance, the neea to dramatically upgrade the transportation infrastructure, and the growing need for a complete revitalization of our industrial strength. Historically, these two issues — the nation’s security and its economy — have been treated as either conflicting issues (“money spent on defence hurts the economy”) or as totally independent public policy issues (with different “special interest” groups proposing “initiatives” in each of the two areas). However, recent attention has been given to tying these two critical issues together — asking, “Can we simultaneously strengthen America’ s posture in both the military and economic spheres?” If the answer to this question is yes, part of the solution must lie in far greater integration between defence and civil technologies — both at the engineering and production levels.
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Notes and References
For a full discussion of such a strategy, see J.S. Gansler, “Needed: A U.S. Defense Industrial Strategy” , International Security, September 1987.
For a full presentation of the case against integration, see the work of Seymour Melman (e.g. , The Permanent War Economy, (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1974).
For a good paper making this point, see: Gordon Adams, Speech to the Woman’s Leadership Conference, Committee for National Security, June 1985, Washington , D.C.
J.S. Gansler, The Defense Industry, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1980) pp.247–257.
“International Science and Technology Data Update, 1986” , Report prepared by Directorate for Scientific , Technological and International Affairs, Division of Science Resource Studies, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.
These categories were suggested by Henry Ergas of OECD (Paris, France) at the Wiston House meeting, September 1987.
See the chapters by Bindel , Graziola, Gummett, Herdan and Hughes, in this volume.
A five point defence industry strategy was originally specified by Prime Minister Nakasone when he was Director General of the Defense Agency and published in July 1970. (See Defense and Foreign Affairs, July 1983, p.25; also, see J.S. Gansler, International Security, September 1987) .
For a discussion of the growing foreign dependency issue, see: J.S. Gansler, “U.S. Dependence on Foreign Military Parts : Should We Be Concerned?”, Issues in Science and Technology, Volume II, Number 4, 1986.
House Armed Services Committee, Industrial Base Panel report, “The Ailing Defense Industrial Base: Unready for Crisis”, (Chairman, Richard Ichord) , December 31, 1980, Congressional Record, Washington, D.C.;
Defence Science Board Task Force, “Report on Industrial Responsiveness”, (Chairman, Robert Fuhrman) , November 21, 1980, Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.; the Air Force Systems Command statement on defense industrial base issues, (General Alton Slay) , November 13, 1980, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; J.S. Gansler, The Defense Industry, loc.cit.
“A Formula for Action” , A Report to the President on Defense Acquisition, by the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, April 1986; and “A Quest for Excellence” , Final Report to the President, by the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, June 1986.
For an expanded discussion of this aircraft example of design-to-cost see: J.S. Gansler, “The Dangerous Dive in Aircraft Production”, Air Force Magazine, Vol . 69, No. 12, December 1986.
L.A. Kratz and J.S. Gansler, “Effective Competition During Weapons System Acquisition”, The National Contract Management Association, McLean, VA, December 31, 1985.
For a detailed comparison of commercial and military equipment and practices, see the 1986 Defense Science Board, Summer Study Task Force report on “Use of Commercial Components in Military Equipment” , Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C.
For example, see Bruce R. Scott and George C. Lodge, U.S. Competitiveness in the World Economy, (Boston , MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1985);
and Stephen S. Cohen and John Zysman, Manufacturing Matters : The Myth of the PostIndustrial Economy, (New York: Basic Books, 1987).
E.M. Douglas, “VHSIC is the Key to Tomorrow’s Weapons”, Barron’s October 3, 1983.
“Manufacturing Technology: Cornerstone of a Renewed Defense Industrial Base” , Committee on the Role of the Manufacturing Technology Program in the Defense Industrial Base, Manufacturing Studies Board, Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. , 1987.
Congressional Budget Office, “The Benefits and Risks of Federal Funding for Sematech” , September 1987, Washington , D.C.
The White House: Press release July 28, 1987, “The President’s Superconductivity Initiative: Fact Sheet” , Washington, D.C.
Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle, (Stanford University Press, 1982).
Toward the end of the Carter Administration , Jordan Baruch (Assistant Secretary for Technology) held an extensive series of national meetings and proposed specific R&D initiatives.
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Gansler, J.S. (1988). The Need — And Opportunity — For Greater Integration of Defence and Civil Technologies in the United States. In: Gummett, P., Reppy, J. (eds) The Relations between Defence and Civil Technologies. NATO ASI Series, vol 46. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7803-5_9
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