Findings From Existing Data on the Department of Defense Industrial Base: Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing Example

Abstract

Seeking to monitor the defense supplier base over time, the Department of Defense has turned to periodic supplier surveys. Existing data may provide some of the same as well as trend insights faster, cheaper, and with less burden on suppliers. To demonstrate the potential of existing data to provide information on the defense supplier base, RAND researchers conducted some illustrative analyses using, among other sources, the System for Aware Management, the Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Subaward Reporting System (FSRS). Using these data can identify small-business participation in the supply base as well as the vulnerability of contractors and subcontractors to changes in their federal government prime contract and subcontract revenue. Such information can help policymakers better understand potential risks in the supply chain and better shape industrial-base policies.