Defense industrial base

A modern DIB requires complex supply chains, manufacturing, and logistics. Pictured: drone supplier for the Turkish Air Force, 2016

A defense industrial base (DIB) is the network of organizations, facilities, and resources that provides a government with materials, products, and services for defense purposes, especially the supply of its armed military forces. ^[1] It may include both public and private actors, including some entities that may not exclusively engage in defense-related production, and is often defined in geographical or national terms (e.g., the U.S. or Chinese defense industrial bases). ^[1] It may also be divided according to the kinds of weapons and equipment produced (one may speak of a "submarine industrial base," for instance, or a "rotary-wing aircraft industrial base," etc.). ^[1]

As a concept, the DIB is closely related to the notion of the military–industrial complex, and is often discussed as a foundational element of national power.

United States

The U.S. defense industrial base has attracted particular attention from policymakers, analysts, academics, and other commentators. Although the country has in some sense possessed a DIB since the Revolutionary War, the modern industrial base–in the form of a large, permanent network of defense-oriented industrial facilities, primarily owned and operated by private firms and maintained during peacetime--dates from the early Cold War. ^[1] After significant expansion between the late 1940s and the late 1980s, the U.S. DIB experienced a period of contraction and consolidation associated with the reduction of defense spending following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. ^{[2] [1]} Since the early 2010s–and especially following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine–the U.S. government has increased the resourcing of the DIB, and production output for the sector as a whole appears to have risen correspondingly. ^{[1] [3]} Whether the DIB is appropriately sized, structured, and tasked is subject of considerable debate within the United States. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

See also

• Military–industrial complex
• Weapons manufacturing
• List of countries with highest military expenditures

References

1. Nicastro, Luke. The U.S. Defense Industrial Base: Background and Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service. October 12, 2023.
2. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (February 2022). "State of Competition within the Defense Industrial Base" (PDF).
3. Allen, Gregory (August 20, 2024). "Why Is the U.S. Defense Industrial Base So Isolated from the U.S. Economy?". Center for Strategic and International Studies.
4. Jones, Seth G. "The U.S. Industrial Base Is Not Prepared for a Possible Conflict with China". features.csis.org. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
5. Lofgren, Mike (2024-06-23). "Why Can't America Build Enough Weapons?". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
6. "The Military Industry... It's Complex". NPR. February 2024.

Further reading

• Chollet, Derek; Sawyer, Lisa. 2025. "An Era of Global Rearmament and the U.S. Defense Industrial Base." JPMorganChase Center for Geopolitics. pp. 11–18.

• Austin, Mike. 1999. Managing the US Defense Industrial Base: A Strategic Imperative, Parameters , pp. 27–37.
• Boezer, Gordon; Gutmaris, Ivans; Muckerman II, Joseph E.: 1997. "The Defense Technology and Industrial Base: Key Component of National Power", Parameters , pp. 26–51.
• Abbott, Gerald; Johnson, Stuart. 1996. "The Changing Defense Industrial Base", Strategic Forum, No. 96.
• Gentsch, Eric L.; 1993. Peterson, Donna J. S.: "A Method for Industrial Base Analysis: An Aerospace Case Study", Bethesda, MD: Logistics Management Institute
• Markusen, Ann. 1999. "The Rise of World Weapons." Foreign Policy , No. 114, Spring, pp. 40–51

External links

• A description of the DIB by the United States Department of Homeland Security
• DIB Programs: Where industry and security intersect by the United States Department of Commerce