Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Antitrust Aspects of DefenseIndustry Consolidation

摘要

The radical decline in procurement expenditures by the Department of Defense(DOD), expected to decrease by approximately 68% from 1985 to 1995, is resulting in an increase in the number of proposed mergers and joint ventures in the defense industry. The number and size of these transactions is expected to continue to grow. During the past fifteen years, DOD participation in antitrust review of mergers by the enforcement agencies (Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been uncoordinated, with the result that DOD often did not participate effectively, or at all, in the review process. DOD has determined that it has a responsibility to participate more actively in merger and joint venture review to ensure that consolidation in the defense industry occurs in a way that protects national security as well as the effectiveness, preservation of a base of skilled personnel, and assurance of efficiency and quality within the defense industry. This Task Force was established by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology) and the General Counsel of Department of Defense to inform DOD about antitrust analysis of mergers and joint ventures so that it can play a more constructive role in the antitrust review process of the enforcement agencies.