Arming the Future A Defense Industry for the 21st Century

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As military procurement spending fell by more than 50 percent in the 1990s, mergers and Pentagon policies altered the defense industry in unexpected ways. More than 40 firms were joined to form the big four -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing McDonnell Douglas, Raytheon Hughes, and Northrop Grumman -- and a new round of transnational mergers may be on the horizon. New policies to encourage dual-use development, civil/military integration, defense conversion, and arms exports were successful in some ways, failures in others. The consolidated industry presents new challenges for American military policy, competitiveness, and international peace and security: How can the costs of weapon development be kept in check? With fewer competitors, how can innovation be assured? Is a more internationally oriented industry compatible with continued U.S. dominance in leading edge weaponry? Can proliferation of sophisticated conventional weapons be avoided? This book documents the defense industrial changes of the post-cold war decade -- why they happened and what they portend. It concludes by offering three different visions of the future: a fortress U.S./fortress Europe standoff; a go-at-it-alone American security strategy supported by a transnational defense industry; and a cooperative security/conflict resolution oriented alliance, which would slow arms innovation and restrain the spread of conventional arms.