The Pentagon's industrial policy chief said today he is looking at accelerating and improving the effectiveness of Defense Production Act Title III to strengthen industrial collaboration.
Speaking at a George Mason University Center for Government Contracting event, Jesse Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, said he's "evaluating all possible options" to improve DPA Title III, including augmenting sourcing possibilities through broadening the definition of domestic sources.
Salazar said he's been meeting with the U.K. and Australia regularly as part of a National Technology and Industrial Base working group on foreign investment review.
Augmenting sourcing possibilities "will ensure the timely availability of essential industrial resources to support national defense requirements," he said. "And we're working with Congress to make sure that we have that authority to invest in Australia and the" United Kingdom.
Another possibility for expanding DPA Title III is by increasing the use of Security of Supply Arrangements (SOSAs), Salazar said, which will reinforce integration opportunities with the NTIB.
"The expanded use of SOSAs will bolster the security of U.S. supply with NTIB partners and utilize existing connections to grow the capacity of critical industrial resources from our partners," he said.
He added the U.S. needs more flexibility in its domestic industrial capacity and should "beef up" its use of next generation technologies, like additive manufacturing.
"That's one of the things I’m really prioritizing, making sure that we're embedding these next gen technologies in domestic capacity, because that's going to enable us to leapfrog and it's also going to enable us to create a market that's not only sustainable for the U.S., but globally competitive," Salazar said. "Because we want things that are dual-use, we want industries that will survive in a marketplace because that's the American way."