Industrial Base:
Defense-Critical Industries
NSIAD-88-192BR: Published: Aug 15, 1988. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 1988.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on industries that are critical to the defense industrial base, specifically: (1) what the Department of Defense (DOD) and other agencies are doing to maintain the defense industrial base and strengthen industries critical to national security; (2) the methodology that a federally funded research and development center used to define and evaluate the strength of the defense industrial base; and (3) information on DOD prime contract awards to foreign sources.
GAO found that: (1) DOD began an initiative in 1987 to improve the competitiveness of U.S. industries critical to the defense industrial base, including a study to determine whether the industrial base's overall strength masked weaknesses in defense-critical industries; (2) of the federal agencies involved with the defense industrial base, DOD and the Department of Commerce had the most important roles in maintaining the viability of defense-critical industries and developing policies relating to national security; (3) some agencies expressed concern that DOD did not accurately represent the problems of defense-critical industries, prioritize the critical industries and minerals, or consider the effects of military coproduction agreements on U.S. industries' competitiveness; (4) although the research center's methodology was basically sound, it defined some industries as defense critical that were not clearly critical to national defense; and (5) DOD did not know the extent to which foreign-sourced components were incorporated in its acquisitions, although extensive dependence in a national emergency could have extreme consequences.
Jan 14, 2021
-
Columbia Class Submarine:
Delivery Hinges on Timely and Quality Materials from an Atrophied Supplier BaseGAO-21-257: Published: Jan 14, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021. -
Department of Defense:
Actions Needed to Improve Accounting of Intradepartmental TransactionsGAO-21-84: Published: Jan 14, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021.
Jan 12, 2021
-
DOD Critical Technologies:
Plans for Communicating, Assessing, and Overseeing Protection Efforts Should Be CompletedGAO-21-158: Published: Jan 12, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 12, 2021.
Dec 10, 2020
-
Climate Resilience:
DOD Coordinates with Communities, but Needs to Assess the Performance of Related Grant ProgramsGAO-21-46: Published: Dec 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020. -
Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations:
DOD Needs to Address Governance and Oversight Issues to Help Ensure SuperiorityGAO-21-64: Published: Dec 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020.
Dec 2, 2020
-
Navy and Marine Corps:
Services Continue Efforts to Rebuild Readiness, but Recovery Will Take Years and Sustained Management AttentionGAO-21-225T: Published: Dec 2, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 2, 2020.
Nov 20, 2020
-
GAO Audits Involving DOD:
Status of Efforts to Schedule and Hold Timely Entrance ConferencesGAO-21-185R: Published: Nov 20, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 20, 2020.
Nov 19, 2020
-
Defense Acquisitions:
Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture Would Benefit from Defined Goals and GovernanceGAO-21-68: Published: Nov 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 19, 2020. -
Defense Intelligence:
Comprehensive Plan Needed to Improve Stakeholder Engagement in the Development of New Military Intelligence SystemGAO-21-57: Published: Nov 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 19, 2020. -
Defense Production Act:
Opportunities Exist to Increase Transparency and Identify Future Actions to Mitigate Medical Supply Chain Issues:GAO-21-108: Published: Nov 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 19, 2020.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here