Forging the Industrial Network the Nation Needs

Editor’s Note: Written by General Joseph L. Votel, USA (Ret.) and The Honorable James F. (Hondo) Geurts on behalf of Business Executives for National Security. Published by The National Interest. All rights reserved.

Harnessing our collective capabilities, talents, and innovations into such a dynamic and aligned network will help overcome the limitations of linear thinking that have impaired the nation’s competitive position in an increasingly challenging world.

The might of the U.S. industrial base over the last eighty years has served the country well. The “Arsenal of Democracy” led the Allies to victory in World War II, led to the conclusion of the Cold War, and has enabled the United States to promote peace and security since. But the global order is changing, and competitors have emerged. What made the United States so effective since Pearl Harbor cannot guarantee such continuing success in the future.

Much has been written about the challenges the nation’s defense industrial base is facing—from poorly executed bureaucratic approaches to a lack of trust between business and government; from a declining number of companies involved in the national security space to a hollowing out of those still engaged; from expensive weapon systems that are taking longer to field to difficulties leveraging technologies found in the commercial marketplace; and finally, from trade controls that can inhibit technology sharing among allies to loopholes that allow the theft of critical technologies by our competitors…