"Defense leaders throughout the NATO alliance have been sounding the alarm that production rates of munitions and weapons must increase. But how to get there?"
Jerry McGinn, a former DoD official and acquisition expert, lays out his guidance in a piece written for Breaking Defense.
"American military support has been crucial to Ukraine’s thus far successful efforts to withstand the unjust military invasion Russia launched a year ago. The rapid consumption and difficulties ramping up production of munitions such as Javelins, Stingers, and HIMARS are a wakeup call, however. If supporting Ukraine creates this much stress on our defense industrial base, it is frightening to think about the impact of an extended military campaign in the Taiwan Straits, let alone conflicts on multiple fronts," said McGinn. "it requires active industry and government management to ensure that specific industrial base sectors maintain an adequate number of providers to support defense needs."
McGinn's article four steps to build the industrial base: 1) Produce more, 2) Buy differently, 3) Strengthen supply chains, and 4) Adopt a "Build Allied" approach.