Pentagon Report Assesses Competition in Defense Industrial Base; Kathleen Hicks Quoted

The Department of Defense has released a report that provides an overview of the state of competition in the defense industrial base and offers recommendations to promote competition in the DIB.

The five recommendations outlined in the report are strengthening merger oversight; addressing intellectual property limitations; increasing new entrants; increasing opportunities for small businesses; and implementing sector-specific supply chain resiliency plans, DOD said Tuesday.

The report discusses the factors impacting competition and provides recommendations related to mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and reliance on commercial items.

The document also cites DOD’s efforts to expand the small business vendor base and examines the state of competition in five critical sectors: microelectronics; castings and forgings; missiles and munitions; strategic and critical materials; and energy storage and batteries.

“As DoD works to innovate, bring new technologies into our supplier base, and develop the workforce of the future, American small businesses and our U.S. industrial base must expand not only to improve resiliency, but to ensure we are able to meet the needs of our warfighters for tomorrow’s high-tech challenges,” said Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of defense and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner.

The report was released in accordance with an executive order signed in July 2021 to promote competition in the U.S. economy.

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