Jamie Bennet
Executives from large defense contractors are calling for a more systematic, long-term schedule for government acquisition of weapons supply as a contingency measure in case of a sudden surge in demand, DefenseNews reported today.
The idea of reforming acquisition practices, which was raised during a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army, built on the possibility of needing to increase production due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Raanan Horowitz, president of Elbit Systems‘ U.S. business arm, said it is not realistic to expect the defense industry to “maintain surge capacity or capabilities” with the existing acquisition process.
He cited the proposed Critical Munitions Acquisition Fund legislation in Senate as a possible approach to keeping military supplies intact despite the deployment of critical stocks to allies in a crisis.
According to Thomas Laliberty, president of land warfare and air defense at Raytheon Technologies‘ missiles and defense business, the industry needs a more in-depth understanding of the demand as well as the government’s willingness to pay before it can determine whether to increase production.
