Emerging Patterns in the Global Defense Industry

Abstract

We continue our ongoing research into the global defense industrial base with a view to better understanding its increasingly complex nature. Our aim has been to understand defense industrial developments, place those developments in context, and find explanatory paradigms suitable for better explanation of ongoing trends. In this report we consider the ongoing travails of the KC-X program, the C-27, and the rise of unmanned aerial combat systems (UAVs, UCAVs, UASs). The KC-X has been an excellent example of the complicated influences that shape the U.S. defense acquisition system bureaucratic, legalistic, and political. It has also illustrated (to this point) the capability of those influences to impose significant delays on even relatively simple projects. The C-27 is an excellent example of the increasingly globalized nature of aerospace industries and their complex relationships with defense customers. The rise of UAVs has been a significant event for military affairs, defense industrial firms, and military organizations. In this report, we discuss UAVs in the context of the ongoing competition between the U.S.and its allies against terrorist-insurgent opponents. We also discuss the organizational issues associated with UAVs through the Raven UAV and its integration with the U.S. Army's support structure.