The United States (U.S.) must revitalize its manufacturing base to maintain national security and economic competitiveness in an era of great power rivalry and technological change. This study by the Eisenhower School’s Industry Study on Advanced Manufacturing (AM) argues that AM technologies—spanning additive manufacturing, advanced materials, industrial artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, digital threads, accelerated computing, advanced modeling and simulations, and augmented reality / virtual reality—are essential for restoring America’s industrial capacity and ensuring the agility and resilience of the defense industrial base (DIB).
Today, while the U.S. retains global leadership in innovation and high-end research and development, its production capabilities, especially in defense-critical sectors, face severe constraints due to aging infrastructure, dwindling small and medium manufacturers (SMM), brittle supply chains, and persistent workforce shortages. The Department of Defense (DoD) remains heavily reliant on a fragile network of these SMM, which often lack access to the capital and expertise required to adopt AM technologies.
Comparative analysis with China, Russia, and France highlights the strategic urgency. China’s top-down, state-driven “Made in China 2025” initiative has rapidly scaled industrial innovation centers and digital infrastructure. Russia, despite limited capacity, demonstrates how unmodernized defense manufacturing struggles to support sustained conflict. France offers a middle path, emphasizing sustainability, workforce training, and regional industrial policy.
The adoption of AM technologies across the commercial and defense sectors is vital not only for economic productivity but for warfighting readiness. After a detailed analysis of AM across four critical themes: technology, supply chain, workforce, and industrial policy, the paper proposes seven policy recommendations that address both whole-of-government and DoD-specific efforts. They are deliberately narrow in scope and should be considered as augmenting, rather than replacing, existing policy efforts. The policy recommendations are:
Whole of Government
- Technology: Provide SMM with access to Government-furnished, Leased AM equipment through direct grants, subsidized leases, and shared-access facilities.
- Supply Chain: Strengthen U.S. Supply Chain Resilience Through Public-Private Partnership and Prioritization
- Workforce: Expand E3 immigrant visa opportunities for legal immigrants to work in manufacturing jobs.
- Industrial Policy: Renew and expand the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCCTG).
DoD
- Technology: Leverage existing DoD funds to incentivize the adoption of AM technology within the DIB.
- Supply Chain: Invest in providing Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliant networks to SMM to grow the DoD supply chain.
- Workforce: Revector the mission of the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation to leverage the 800+ military facilities across the U.S. and align local, state, and federal resources geared toward manufacturing.
Urgent, coordinated action is needed to modernize the U.S. industrial base. Without targeted investments in AM technologies, the U.S. risks losing its ability to respond to large-scale conflicts and to out-innovate its strategic competitors. Revitalizing the manufacturing sector through smart industrial policy, agile public-private collaboration, and a resilient workforce will ensure the U.S. remains the world’s preeminent industrial and military power.
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