Industry Studies Group Papers

The Industry Studies Group Paper provides a current analysis of the domestic and international industry capability to support the 2022 NSS and NDS, and government-private sector interactions that impact the national innovation and defense industrial base. Students demonstrate the ability to evaluate international industry that supports the national innovation and defense industrial bases; derive fact-based, analytical, and resource-informed policy recommendations; and communicate them in a compelling fashion. Students develop actionable and resource-informed policy recommendations to strengthen the national innovation and defense industrial bases.

The Antonelli Award

Major General Theodore Antonelli Award for Research & Writing Excellence, was established in 1993 by the ICAF/Eisenhower School Alumni Association. Major General Antonelli served in North Africa and Italy during World War II as well as later in Vietnam. He later became the highly regarded 13th commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, from 1975 to 1978. This award recognizes the Industry Study Group Report that best reflects the standards of analytical excellence expected of the Industry Study Program and all Eisenhower School graduates. Apply the filter "Antonelli Award" to see each year's winning papers at the bottom of this page.

Featured Papers

Space | May 30, 2023

Transforming the Defense Space Architecture with the Tools of the U.S. F...

2023 Antonelli Award Winner -- The asymmetric advantage the United States has long enjoyed in space diminishes as adversaries threaten the space system architecture underlying that advantage. The U.S. space system architecture depends on large,
Advanced Manufacturing | May 30, 2022

Better, Faster, Stronger: Building National Competitiveness Through Adva...

2022 Antonelli Award Winner -- For decades, globalization has facilitated positive economic ties and development. It also made the US economy vulnerable to disruptions, material shortages, and international competition. As the Biden Administration

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Category: Weapons

Weapons

Weapons May 30, 2017

The Future of the Weapons Industry: 2018 and Beyond

The United States (US) Weapons Industry remains robust, with sufficient support from the private sector to underpin current U.S. National Security missions. Although we continue in an era of constrained budgets, demand for weapons will not diminish. The industrial base (private and public sectors) is able to balance maintaining basic infrastructure, providing direct support to ongoing conflicts, and developing competitive strategies to ensure the United States' technical and deployable primacy in the world. The competing demands amongst the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and armed services add extra tension to budget constraints. Substantial efforts by both Congress and the defense establishment to reduce waste associated with defense acquisition do not focus enough on ensuring the health of the defense weapons industrial base. The USG should conduct an assessment on current Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding, focus strategies to improve collaboration between defense and industry laboratories, continue revisions of export controls and regulations to support greater opportunities to increase competition, and ensure improvement of the acquisition processes. Without a comprehensive assessment and focused improvement efforts, the United States' Defense Industrial Base can expect diminution of its capacity, innovation, and technological advantage to resource National Security missions.

Weapons

Weapons: May 30, 2023

The Need for Speed: The Case for Continued Development of Hypersonic and Directed Energy Weapons

As the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and to a lesser extent Russia, rapidly develop and field hypersonic and directed energy weapons, the United States (US) faces a strategic military capabilities gap. The PRC’s arsenal of hypersonic weapons extends its anti-access area denial capabilities throughout the South China Sea, increasing the required standoff distances for US military forces to operate in a conflict safely. To prevent the PRC from reshaping the liberal world order, the US should continue to develop offensive and defensive hypersonic and directed energy weapons to complement its current arsenal while addressing defense industrial base issues, including infrastructure, supply chain, and human capital, and fostering cooperation with allies and partners.