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Researching and manufacturing fighters, ships, and tanks are only
part of the picture for defense contracts. Contracting for services
accounts for over 41 percent of DoD contract obligations in 2018.
Services include maintaining equipment, moving people and things,
creating software, providing server space, and construction.
Service contracting is challenging as services can be difficult to
define and measure. But services are increasingly central to the
U.S. economy. The Department of Defense seeks to attract new firms
that will increase its speed and agility-many of these firms are
service providers, e.g., data analytics or cloud computing. CSIS
looked at a million contracts to evaluate how three factors
influence performance: 1.service complexity 2.contract-management
capacity 3.vendor's history working with a DoD contracting office
The existing data fails to explain large differences in contract
office performance. More DoD transparency about contracting office
capacity could help make a case for further investments. The report
also found that when vendors and contracting offices have a longer
history, they tend to have better results. That means DoD needs to
think not only about recruiting new partners, but also about
helping them succeed.
CSIS's The Future of Military Engines looks at the state of the
U.S. military engine industrial base and the choices confronting
policymakers at the Department of Defense (DoD). The military
engine industrial base is closely tied to the industrial base for
commercial engines. U.S. engine providers use many of the same
facilities and largely the same supply chain for military and
commercial engines. The ability to leverage commercial supply
chains is critical because supply chain quality underlies the
performance advantage of U.S. military engines, both for individual
aircraft and military aircraft fleets. International competitors
such as Russia and China are seeking to overtake the U.S. in
engines. However, the current U.S. advantage is sustainable if it
is treated as a national priority. Many military aircraft,
especially fighters, require engines with important differences
from commercial aircraft. They fly different flight profiles and
perform different jobs. These differences mean that while DoD can
leverage the commercial engine industrial base, it must also make
investments to sustain the industrial base's unique military
components. In the next few years, DoD investment in military
engines is projected to decrease significantly, particularly for
R&D. This presents a challenge as military-unique engineering
skills are highly perishable. Four major policy choices confront
DoD as it formulates its investment approach to military engines
going forward: 1) Priority, 2) Resources, 3) Business Model, and 4)
Competition. The DoD is at an inflection point for engine
investment, and the time for choosing on these four key policy
questions will come in the next few years.
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