The Pentagon has slashed the number of programs deemed to be of the "highest national defense urgency" -- a designation that provides priority access to materials and commodities that may be in short supply -- in order to ensure the most pressing U.S. military industrial needs are being met. Kenneth Krieg, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, on June 22 stripped more than a dozen weapon programs of their "DX" ratings, paring the list back to a...
