Globalization of Defense Materials and Manufacturing

Emerging economies, social and political transitions, and new ways of doing business are changing the world dramatically. To be the leader in this competitive climate, a defense manufacturing enterprise will require up-to-date capabilities, which include improvements in materials processing, among other things. Also, national and international efforts to mitigate environmentally harmful effects of industrial processes and to improve decision making for handling and disposing of industrial contaminants adds additional requirements for any future efforts. The objective of retaining high-value materials-related manufacturing as a key national competitive capability implies a number of factors. The value of specific manufacturing capabilities could be defined not only in terms of criticality to defense systems but also in relation to technology and knowledge content, importance as a supplier to other industries, and importance to U.S. exports.

Requested by Department of Defense (DoD) communities, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop in March 2015 to further explore materials and manufacturing processes. The participants explored changes in the global R&D landscape, technology awareness mechanisms—both DoD''s mechanisms and other models—and collaboration models and issues in R&D. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.