Defense Conversion – Transforming the Arsenal of Democracy (Twentieth Century Fund Book) - Hardcover

Gansler, Jacques S

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262071665 ISBN 13: 9780262071666

Publisher: MIT Press, 1995

Synopsis

This text examines the need to convert the defence industry from an inefficient and non-competitive part of the US economy to an integrated, civilian/military operation. The author defines the challenges, especially the influence of old-line defence interests and presents examples of restructuring. Gansler discusses growing foreign involvement, lessons of prior industrial conversions, the best structure for the next century, current barriers to integration, a three-part transformation strategy, the role of technological leadership, and the critical workforce. He concludes by outlining sixteen specific actions for achieving civil/military integration. In Gansier's view, the end of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union represents a permanent downturn rather than a cyclical decline in the defence budget. He argues that this critical transition period requires a restructuring of the defence acquisitions process to achieve a balance between economic concerns and national security, while maintaining a force size and equipment modernization capable of deterring future conflicts. Gansler argues that for the defence industry to survive and thrive, the government must make its acquisitions process more flexible, specifically by lowering barriers to integration. This includes, among other things, rethinking the production specifications for new equipment and changing bids for contracts from a cost basis to a price basis. Gansler point out that by making primarily political and procedural changes (rather than legislative ones), companies will be able to produce technology for both civilian and military markets, instead of exclusively for one or the other as has been the norm. This dual-use approach, would save the government billions of dollars annually and would enable the military to diversify by utilizing state-of-the-art.

About this title

About the Author

Jacques S. Gansler is the author of the influential books The Defense Industry (1980), Affording Defense (1989), and Defense Conversion: Transforming the Arsenal of Democracy (1998), all published by the MIT Press. He is currently Professor and Roger C. Lipitz Chair, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, and served as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics from 1997 to 2001.

From the Back Cover

Author of two widely read books on the defense industry, Jacques Gansler takes a hard look at the need to convert the industry from an inefficient and noncompetitive part of the U.S. economy to an integrated civilian/military operation.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262071665
• ISBN 13: 9780262071666
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 292