Organic Industrial Base: May 30, 2023

The Defense Sustainment Agency: Leading the OIB of the Future

The Eisenhower School’s class of 2023 OIB industry study cohort, Seminar 16, set its sights on reimagining the OIB of the future with an academic focus on the depot-level maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO), and modification services to sustain readiness of complex weapon systems. During the seminar’s journey, common themes were noted through several interactions with industry and government senior leaders across the MRO and sustainment enterprise -- flexibility, agility, interoperable, effective, efficient, forward projecting, and distributing to the point of need -- as key requirements for a future OIB. Seminar 16 welcomed the challenge of making this vision a reality in an OIB environment fraught with unfavorable market dynamics, aging and underfunded infrastructure, and a shrinking workforce. Accordingly, the conclusion of this report reflects the seminar’s aspiration for the creation of a new defense agency, the Defense Sustainment Agency (DSA), as a solution for mitigating the above issues and placing the U.S. on a stronger footing for prevailing in a peer conflict by 2030 and beyond.

Private Sector and Support Services March 30, 2017

Private Sector and Support Services

The Department of Defense (DoD) spends over 50% of its acquisition budget on services, and contractors play a critical role in US military operations. This Industry Study Report finds that the Private Sector Support and Services (PS3) industry is robust and healthy, despite a recent tumultuous period of decreased demand, budget constraints, and market upheaval. While the DoD continues to refine and improve its acquisition of services, more work remains. This report assesses the PS3 industry, analyzes government policies and practices, and makes recommendations for continued improvement.

Reconstruction March 30, 2017

Reconstruction

The Class of 2017 Reconstruction Industry Seminar analyzed the various components that encompass the industry, from government departments, non-governmental organizations, and private industry, to international partners and organizations. The analysis specifically included two country studies and visits: the post-conflict peace process in Colombia with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the post-disaster operations in Haiti connected to the 2010 earthquake and 2016 Hurricane Matthew. While both countries have made great strides in making sure both processes are planned, they are not absent numerous obstacles and challenges that threaten prevention of a lasting solution in both. This paper addresses these obstacles and challenges in greater detail and offers US policy recommendations that could help maximize finite resources and foster better, more lasting solutions to these countries. It is the seminar’s expectation that, in the long run, these recommendations will make them better partners and allies of the United States.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems May 30, 2022

Shaping a Responsible and Security Future with Robotics and Autonomous Systems

The United States’ ability to promote innovation and growth in the robotics and autonomous system (RAS) industries directly impacts US national security and global stability. The character of warfare is constantly evolving. Recent events in Ukraine (and previously in Nagorno-Karabakh) revealed that RAS represents a disruptive technology at the leading edge of that evolution. RAS enable smaller, dispersed forces to effectively challenge legacy sources of military strength in the air, on land, and at sea.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems: May 30, 2023

The Rise of Robots and Autonomous Systems: Unraveling the Challenges in U.S. Commercial and Defense RAS Industries

General Douglas MacArthur is famously credited with saying, “Military failure can almost always be summarized in just two words: Too late.” Recently, the Secretary of the Air Force, Frank Kendall, resurrected this phrase to warn slow technological movement would place the United States at a strategic military disadvantage, with potentially devastating effects. As the U.S. faces a pacing challenge with China, with implications for the global world order, U.S. Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) advancement will play a critical role. The 2022 National Defense Strategy emphasizes autonomous technology as an asymmetric approach to deter aggression, change kinetic conflict, and complicate escalation dynamics. The Department of Defense (DoD) seeks to mature autonomous technology through strategic investments in the domestic ecosystem and with U.S. allies and partners. The rapid advancement of commercial RAS drives the need for DoD to be a fast follower, rapidly incorporating commercial capabilities into military-relevant capabilities. Unlike many industries, the greatest obstacles to full RAS incorporation, commercially and militarily, will be cultural, ethical, and social. Accordingly, for the DoD to achieve superiority across the RAS industry, the United States must deftly navigate not only the technological challenges, but also the “soft” challenges: safety, social acceptance, trust, and human-machine integration.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems: March 30, 2025

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

The Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Industry has seen ever-increasing relevance and importance in its applications both within the Department of Defense (DOD) and throughout society. Enhancing human productivity in activities ranging from self-driving automobiles to unmanned aircraft that can deliver weapons without requiring human control or consent, the development and advancement of these technologies have the potential to alter daily life as we know it. These emerging capabilities provide ample opportunity for the DOD to influence and leverage these capabilities to support national security strategies. This paper will examine the industry, current and future RAS applications as they relate to increased human productivity, and the implications these advancements have on our way of life. It will then provide recommendations on what the DOD can do to better position itself to capitalize on RAS growth and prevent missteps.

Shipbuilding: May 30, 2023

Navigating the Waves: Assessing and Addressing Key Issues in U.S. Shipbuilding and Repair

For over seven decades, the United States has championed a rules-based global order, allowing international commerce to flourish. The 2022 National Security Strategy (NSS) reaffirms this vision, specifying the United States' commitment to “an open, prosperous, and secure international order…free from aggression, coercion, and intimidation.” Critical to fulfilling this ambition is ensuring the United States has the military capacity to protect its territory and project its global power. To achieve this, the United States Government must dedicate time and resources to modernize and strengthen its military, equipping it to successfully prevail in great power competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while addressing acute threats such as Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Space May 31, 2024

The Strategic Necessity to Integrate Commercial In-Space Servicing, Assembly, And Manufacturing (ISAM) into United States Space Force Capabilities

The creation of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) reflects the growing strategic and economic importance of space. The rapid development of commercial space technologies, particularly In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM), offers the USSF opportunities to enhance its space capabilities and maintain superiority. By investing in commercial ISAM, coordinating with allies, and fostering market growth, the USSF can achieve long-term cost savings and innovation. The report recommends policy actions such as adjusting USSF resource allocations, stimulating ISAM market competition, creating a Space Investment Fund, and advocating for regulatory reform. These steps will help the USSF stay competitive and lead in space operations.

Space: May 30, 2023

Transforming the Defense Space Architecture with the Tools of the U.S. Federal Government

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, exquisite capabilities and a ground segment to manage and link those capabilities. It was leveraged to devastating effect during warfighting in the nineties and proved that space capabilities could transform air, ground, and naval power. It also spurred steep growth in the U.S. space industry, which had both first mover advantage and generous government contracts to grow its knowledge base. In subsequent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia have sought to neutralize the advantage by developing strike and counterstrike capabilities of U.S. systems through kinetic, non-kinetic, electronic, and cyber-attacks. They have also sought to develop their own industrial base to compete with U.S. industry.

Space: May 30, 2022

The Need for Speed: Leveraging Commercial Space Markets to Accelerate U.S. National Interests in Space

The United States’ space superiority is being challenged by the pacing threats of China and Russia. Both countries understand the United States’ economic dependence on space and the degree to which American military advantages rely on space-based assets. They have, in turn, developed capabilities and strategies to deny use of these advantages in the event of conflict. At the same time, a revolution is underway in the commercial space industry that has led to an explosion of new companies, capabilities, and business models that are democratizing access to space and rapidly increasing the opportunities available to the U.S., our allies, and partners.