Reconstituting a Production Capability. Past Experience, Restart Criteria, and Suggested Policies.

摘要

With the transition to lower U.S. military force levels, near-term reductions in defense procurement seem inevitable. Budget pressures will dictate not only that smaller quantities of individual weapon systems be acquired but also that many long-enduring production lines be shut down. In addition, production lines of new weapon systems may well be dismantled soon after the initial production runs are complete. At the same time, the United States must maintain a capability to respond to regional conflicts that threaten U.S. interests and to reconstitute its forces in the event of extended conflicts. Indeed, reconstitution is one of the four foundations of the new national military strategy enunciated by President George Bush in 1990. In this report, we examine one promising reconstitution option: activating the industrial base to produce major weapon systems whose production lines have been shut down. This report examines the following major production-restart issues: cost and schedule relative to those of new programs, measures to ameliorate the problems of restart, criteria for selecting restart candidates, and alternatives reconstitution strategies.