Report downplays danger of DoD use of foreign suppliers

A Pentagon report has concluded that the military's reliance on foreign suppliers of weapons systems does not put the U.S. defense industrial base at risk.

Delivered to lawmakers last month, the report noted the reliance on foreign suppliers for a handful of weapons systems used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The study found that use of foreign sources does not harm long-term readiness or national security, as the vast majority of foreign sources come from NATO countries with whom the United States has an enduring military and commercial relationship. And opposition to U.S. policy in Iraq by some countries, including France and Germany, did not affect any foreign suppliers' ability to sell parts and components to the U.S. military.

House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and other authorizing committee members sought in the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill to strengthen laws intended to protect the U.S. industrial base.

A Hunter spokesman noted that the report ignores the refusal by a Swiss company to provide critical parts for the Pentagon's Joint Direct Attack Munition during the Iraq war. Hunter said last year that Switzerland, a neutral country, halted delivery of components used in the bomb's guidance system because of the Iraq conflict, and he has argued that reliance on overseas technology can threaten national security.

In last year's defense authorization bill, Duncan inserted a provision that calls on the Defense secretary to establish a program that assesses the department's reliance on foreign sources and the ability of the U.S. industry to meet national security objectives. An accompanying annual report will include the number and value of prime contracts in excess of $25,000, including those awarded on a sole-source basis and those awarded to foreign contractors.

The report includes data collected by the military services that indicates the U.S. industrial base capacity for some critical technologies is wearing thin.

For the Army, combat vehicles, rotary wing aircraft and vehicle tracks are areas of concern. The Navy is worried about its sole source for submarine flooded lead batteries, produced by an Illinois company at risk of closure because of low demand. The Navy also is watching the microwave power tube industry and the potential for the domestic market share to be lost to foreign suppliers. And the Air Force is concerned with thermal batteries used in missiles, guided artillery and bombs, and countermeasure devices. Only two suppliers produce the technology. One of them, a foreign supplier, makes 80 percent of the batteries for the military. The Air Force is seeking a second domestic source to maintain its ability to acquire munitions during contingency operations.