ABSTRACT
This book confirms that there is considerable knowledge available on the world’s defence industries but there is a general absence of government-supplied data. This absence is surprising since governments are the industry’s major buyer and determine its size, structure, conduct, performance and ownership. The global defence industry employs large numbers of scarce labour resources with alternative uses. There is a mix of state and private ownership. The industry’s future will be determined by government and new technology. As a result, the armed forces of the future will be radically different from those of today with implications for defence industries. Equipment costs will continue to rise leading to difficult choices for each nation’s armed forces and its defence industries. Various new procurement policies will be presented as ‘the solution’ to rising costs, but as always these are likely to fail. Finally, a research agenda is presented outlining future research questions on defence industries.
