US DOD Releases First-Ever National Defense Industrial Strategy

The Department of Defense today released its inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS), which will guide the Department's engagement, policy development, and investment in the industrial base over the next three to five years. Taking its lead from the National Defense Strategy (NDS), this strategy will catalyze generational change from the existing defense industrial base to a more robust, resilient, and dynamic modernized defense industrial ecosystem.

"The current and future strategic environment demands immediate, comprehensive, and decisive action to strengthen and modernize our defense industrial base ecosystem so it delivers at speed and scale for our warfighters," Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said. "DoD's first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy will help ensure we build the modern defense industrial and innovation ecosystem that's required to defend America, our allies and partners, and our interests in the 21st century."

"We are proud to release this ground-breaking strategy," said Dr. William A. LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, added. "The NDIS recognizes that America's economic security and national security are mutually reinforcing and, ultimately the nation's military strength cannot be untethered from our overall industrial strength. We must act now to build on recent progress and ensure we have the capacity to produce at speed and scale." 

While the NDS identifies risk to the industrial base, it also guides the Department to solutions. Recognizing that the defense industrial base must provide the required capabilities at the speed and scale necessary for the U.S. military to engage and prevail in a near-peer conflict, the NDIS strategy calls out challenges, solutions, and risks of failure concisely. The strategy offers a strategic vision and path along four strategic priorities: resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition, and economic deterrence. This proposed pathway to modernize the defense industrial ecosystem also recognizes that this effort cannot be a Department of Defense-only solution, repeatedly emphasizing cooperation and coordination between the entire U.S. government, private industry, and international allies and partners.

The full NDIS and a fact sheet are available at: https://www.businessdefense.gov/NDIS.html