Munitions: –
The ability of the United States to readily deter, deny, and defeat its adversaries is directly tied to its military capabilities. Coming out of the nation’s longest period of armed conflict, the United States continues to face challenges from adversaries in every operating domain. Whether the nation is at war or at peace, readiness is essential. As a top priority, the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to assess the best strategy for managing and operating the defense industrial base (DIB) as the operational environment continues to evolve at the pace of adversary motivation. Difficult choices must be made in prioritizing what is most important to field a ready, lethal, adaptive, and resilient military
Aligned with the Interim National Security Strategy, The Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy’s Munitions Industry Study Team developed a comprehensive perspective of the Munitions Industrial Base (MIB). In addition to extensive interaction with government stakeholders, the group gained insight into industry’s motivations and challenges through site visits, interviews, and engagements with key private sector players in the MIB. This included well-established large firms such as General Dynamics - Ordnance & Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), British Aerospace Systems (BAE Systems), and Nordic Ammunitions Company (NAMMO), and relatively new firms such as Estes Energetics, a small startup with less than a dozen employees. Most of the firms focused on the production of small, medium, and large caliber munitions. The firms also produced artillery rounds and the key subsystems and/or components for a broader set of munitions, including warheads, batteries, rocket motors, and energetics for a variety of ammunition and missile systems. The Munitions Industry Study Team also engaged representatives of the Munitions Industrial Base Task Force (MIBTF), a non-governmental consortium of fifteen companies in the munitions industry.
As the Munitions Industry Study Team engaged with industry over a five month period, numerous common issues and themes emerged across the MIB. Part of the Munitions Industry Study Team’s analysis focused on how to connect various stakeholder perspectives in a manner that accurately conveyed the salient features of the MIB.
The DOD remains committed to modernizing the MIB over the coming years by upgrading infrastructure, facilities, equipment, and operations to maintain a competitive advantage. Responsible for generating the capacity to project power, the MIB demonstrates mission readiness through its ability to surge production capacity, maintain critical capabilities, and innovate for the future. The MIB is a strategic investment priority positioned to assure overall military readiness and deterrence against foreign threats. The goal of the MIB should be to effectively posture itself to sustain a high level of performance while delivering quality capabilities, on time, to support national security objectives.
The Munitions Industry Study Team utilized the “Structure-Conduct-Performance” (SCP) model to assess the MIB. By looking at the interplay between the structure and conduct of firms within the MIB, the Munitions Industry Study Team was able to view its performance. The SCP framework provided insight into the strategic environment and potential threats to the MIB. This optimally position the MIB to gain the advantage over strategic adversaries.
- Structure: The nature of the relationship amongst the manufacturers, suppliers, and customers that constitute the MIB.
- Conduct: The competitive behavior and strategies used by firms in the MIB to become or remain a key player categorized into three main lines of effort (LOE) within the analysis.
- Performance: The viability of the MIB and individual firms within the industry to meet current and future projective requirements (i.e., the metrics to assess the quality and quantity of products, and efficiency of production).
The MIB strategic environment is dynamic and ever-evolving based on government demands, budget availability, and geopolitical tensions The MIB faces challenges, that if not addressed, will weaken the nation’s ability to deter, deny, and defeat its strategic adversaries. If deterring or prevailing in conflict requires the MIB to maintain, sustain, and meet future demand, then the United States must consider several strategic and operational challenges affecting the MIB.
This analysis dissects the SCP model and compartmentalizes them into three distinct LOEs. Analysis of these LOEs concludes with policy recommendations for how best to position the MIB to maintain, sustain, and gain the competitive advantage over strategic adversaries.