A day after we asked the question, one of DC’s top defense think tanks gave its answer: Yes, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a DoD “industrial policy” could help protect and sustain key areas of the U.S. defense industrial base. How likely is it? Well, that’s another matter.
Defense analysts Barry Watts and Todd Harrison briefed reporters Wednesday on their study, which is packed with information and analysis and comes to this conclusion: If the Pentagon identified, say, six to eight key areas that it knew it must protect to have them around just in case of a major war, it could plan and program accordingly to be sure it never lost what they contribute to American national power. But if Washington persists with its official illusion that the defense game is a traditional free market and should be permitted to behave as such, the U.S. could lose essential skills forever, or face enormous costs to regain them down the road.
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