ABSTRACT
The industrial base provides the flow of product needed to build force structure, provide for readiness of the force, deploy units, and support logistical requirements during operational phases of a national security emergency. The adequacy of the US defense industry to support these ends is supposed to be assured by the Five-Year Defense Plan (FYDP) which has stabilized the flow of financial resources through the procurement system to the industrial base. In the late 1970's, defense planners began to worry about the effects on many defense-critical industry sectors of the industrial transition triggered by such factors as the rapid increase in oil prices, inflation, high interest rates, and the growing penetration of the US and international markets by foreign Competitors. The dynamic contingency planning system utilized by Department of Defense (DOD) to anticipate threats and capabilities of potential adversaries and provide the appropriate US responses cannot be matched by assessments of the industrial base.
