The Future Of The Us Space Industrial Base

Author : Robert L. Butterworth
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (453 download)

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Download or read book Growing the Space Industrial Base written by Robert L. Butterworth and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than 50 years, the United States used the inventiveness and productivity of its economy to overmaster Soviet advantages in numbers and geography. This 3asymmetric4 strategy--arguably the most sustained and extensive in history--proved triply successful. It brought superior defense and intelligence capabilities, many of which might remain unchallenged for years to come. It brought economic advancement, as national security research and engineering found commercial and civil applications. And, it brought scientific and technological advancement, demanding and fueling basic and applied research at universities, public corporations, and commercial companies. These benefits are still eagerly welcomed today, but it is not clear how they might be continued. Over the past 10 years the technical and industrial base serving US defense needs has shrunk and congealed, as changing international and budgetary circumstances have brought different threats, smaller force structures, and much smaller procurement budgets. And, other markets have offered far greater commercial rewards. Accordingly, the US national security community has thus been looking for opportunities to participate more fully in commercial processes, and on occasion to go further, to use public budgets and policies to shape and structure those processes. For example, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Jacques Gansler declared to Congress in May 2000 that 3it is clearly in the national interest (in the absence of 1normal2 market forces) for us to create an enabling environment to ensure a competitive, healthy, and technologically advanced defense industrial base.4 The space industrial sector has been of particular concern given its intimate connection with national security operations and plans, its broad importance for science and technology, and its competitive position toward foreign governments and producers. However, the industry has been struggling, and without US government actions it may not have the depth and vitality to provide affordable solutions to future national security requirements. What type of government action could improve the situation? This is the question addressed in this paper by Dr. Robert Butterworth, a consultant on space policy issues for several years and currently a visiting professor at the Air War College. He notes that the Defense Department has long hoped that its needs for space products and services could be supplied by an industrial base that is sustained by commercial sales. However, according to Dr. Butter-worth2s analysis, that day has not yet arrived--despite years of targeted purchases, investments, and acquisition reform. The author proposes a more promising approach based on a strategic outlook on research, development, and procurement. While such an approach could prove difficult to sustain, working toward it could reduce the likelihood of more counterproductive policies. In the end, Dr. Butterworth suggests that space programs are likely to achieve innovation and cost control in the future as they did in the past--through active government participation and managed competition. As with all Maxwell Papers, this study is provided in the spirit of academic freedom, open debate, and serious consideration of the issues. We encourage your responses.