QDR Considerations

Don't forget about the industrial base.

So says the Aerospace Industries Association, in a report released today as the Defense Department puts together the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review.

The report, "The Unseen Cost: Industrial Base Consequences of Defense Strategy Choices," states that a "significant gap has developed between DOD's view of industry as an always-ready supplier of military capabilities and how industry actually makes decisions on what capabilities to offer."

Consequently, the AIA paper offers six recommendations to make sure the defense industrial base is considered in DOD's strategic planning efforts:

Institutionalize defense industrial base considerations into strategic processes, such as the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and future QDRs.

Better account for defense industrial base considerations in the acquisition and planning, programming, budgeting and execution (PPBE) processes.

Restore the Secretary of Defense/industry CEO forum.

Continually assess the industrial base from a more strategic perspective.

Reinvigorate congressional oversight/review of defense industrial base issues.

Ensure that the military services and industry focus research and development on competitive design and development and efficient production.

As AIA Assistant Vice President for Defense Policy J.J. Gertler told reporters earlier today:

The department has to understand that if you're shutting off a capability . . . that you may want down the road, a certain decision -- and it can be a high-level strategy decision -- may make that capability go away or require a very lengthy re-start. And what this paper ultimately is . . . is a plea for rationality and consciousness in making those decisions with a full set of information.