US Launches Industrial Plan to Fix Military Vulnerabilities - Administration Official

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2018) The United States is launching the most ambitious defense industry expansion program in 65 years to address some 300 vulnerabilities in crucial weapons systems such as rocket motors, armor and radar, a senior US administration official told reporters.

"We have a report that unveils five macro forces affecting the 300 gaps or vulnerabilities that demand action to close the gap," the official said in a conference call on Thursday.

President Donald Trump, the official noted, will sign determinations on Friday approving the release of Defense Act funds to start addressing some of the vulnerabilities addressed in a new report.

The study involved more than 300 experts with 16 working groups analyzing ten traditional sectors including aircraft, munitions, radar, shipbuilding, electronic warfare, and machine tools, the official added.

The idea, the official said, was to identify vulnerabilities in the military-industrial supply chain which had become fragile due to budgeting issues.

Crucial areas where the US armed forces were dependent on single suppliers included ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) used in rocket solid fuel, propeller shafts for large warships and gun barrels for heavy artillery, the senior official said.

The study was the most comprehensive of its kind that had been done on coordinating US defense needs with the military-industrial base since President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched Operation Solarium in 1953, the official said.