DOD and Industry Leaders Cite Industrial Base Concerns

Aerospace Industry Association - Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn said the Pentagon was systematically assessing industrial base concerns...Lynn said the Defense Department was auditing the manufacturing base sector by sector, which would allow it to determine what specific competencies were crucial for national defense. Preserving the industrial base is an important element of the Quadrennial Defense Review and was considered in all QDR decisions.

Jim Albaugh, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Vice Chairman of AIA, also spoke at the lunch. He noted the lack of new aerospace and defense start-up programs and the resulting loss of new technology, engineers and capabilities.