On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released a strategic roadmap to address supply chain vulnerabilities in the defense industrial base (DIB). Executive Order (E.O.) 14017, America’s Supply Chains, directed Cabinet agencies to assess supply chains in sectors critical for America’s economic and national security. In the report, Securing Defense-Critical Supply Chains, the DoD presents recommendations for high-priority areas in the DIB, with input from other agencies, the National Security Council (NSC) and National Economic Council (NEC).
The report highlights the historic strength and value of America’s supply chains, and reinforces the need for transformative investments in the 21st century to build greater supply chain resilience. The Department of Defense also highlights a set of strategic enablers that underpin overall mission success and supply chain resilience, such as workforce, cyber posture, small business, and manufacturing capabilities.
“A clear national consensus has emerged around the need for bold action in support of supply chain resilience,” said Andrew Hunter, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. “This report is a strategic roadmap for the department to build lasting resilience in our defense industrial base.”
The department outlines not only a whole-of-government, but a whole-of-nation, strategy to assessing and strengthening supply chains critical to the DIB and overall U.S. national security. The strategy encompasses efforts needed internally within DoD, as well as those in collaboration with interagency, industry, and international partners and allies.
“Supply chain resiliency is vital to the Defense Department,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks. “We will prioritize cooperation with our defense industrial base and with all others who have a stake in our national and economic security to collaboratively safeguard global market integrity and strengthen defense-critical supply chains.
The one-year effort prioritizes four areas in which critical vulnerabilities pose the most pressing threat to national security. These focus areas are:
- Kinetic capabilities: current missiles systems and advanced and developing missile capabilities, including hypersonic weapons technology, as well as directed energy weapons
- Energy storage and batteries: high-capacity batteries, with a particular focus on lithium batteries
- Castings and forgings: metals or composites developed into key parts and manufacturing tools through high-intensity processes
- Microelectronics: State-of-the-Practice (SOTP) and legacy microelectronics, as well as State-of- the-Art (SOTA) microelectronics.
The report notes that disruptions to these complex global supply chains cause significant costs to industry and diminish competitiveness. For example, widespread power outages in Texas in 2021 cost one semiconductor fabricator more than $100 million and a full month of lost production of wafers, a key component of semiconductors.
Because supply chain resilience is critical for U.S. national security and economic strength, the report says, a clear national consensus—bolstered by public, private, and social sector prioritization—has emerged around the need for bold action in support of U.S. supply chain security.
