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When I was yet a wee lad, my grandfather told me stories of his days as a production superintendent at a GM plant. I learned about process, flow, how you can never make up for lost production due to downtime. He told me how he reorganized the plant at the beginning of World War II to manufacture machine gun bolts for aircraft. Dad was an accountant, but he sometimes told me about sales engineers that came to his plant to help fix machines.

Years ago when I had a sales engineering position, one of my customers was a US Army armaments plant. They built the Abrams M1 tank. I once quoted a job to upgrade equipment that painted the camouflage pattern. Just as I turned in the quote, Bush I invaded Kuwait. All the tanks were painted a single color—Desert Sand.

Even though I’m an internationalist in many ways, I recognized the crucial interplay of manufacturing and national defense. 

This prelude leads to a report released by Michael Bloomberg called Strategic Edge: A Blueprint for Breakthroughs in Defense Innovation. This privately commissioned report addressed the challenges facing America’s strategic defense posture. Chaired by General David Berger (USMC, Retired), the report offers a new avenue for restoring the nation’s military and industrial edge through innovation and strategic investments.

If you are American, then this is a report worth reading and contemplating. What can you as a manufacturing professional do? If you are not American, not to worry, the same thoughts apply to your country.

This blueprint provides actionable solutions to counter decades of erosion in America’s ability to deter adversaries. With contributions from leading defense experts and technologists, the report emphasizes the urgency of rebuilding the industrial base, leveraging non-traditional innovators, and unlocking private capital to accelerate the fielding of emerging technologies. It recommends the Department of Defense do this by divesting 15% of its budget from its current portfolio of aging, legacy systems, and investing it in a new, separate pipeline for critical technologies.

I am not sanguine about the ability of our national government to spur manufacturing growth. The first Trump administration had a few big PR photo ops. How many of those plants are actually operating? The Biden administration observed the critical need for domestic semiconductor manufacturing. Big PR ops. Oops, they partnered with Intel (had to, what other US semiconductor manufacturer is there?). Even directing investment isn’t often successful. 

Yet, we must remain optimistic, for what alternative have we?

Summarizing the highlights:

  • Field Emerging and Critical Technologies by Creating an Alternative Pipeline: The U.S. must establish an alternative procurement pipeline to rapidly acquire and deploy critical technologies at scale, ensuring direct operational impact and strategic advantage for warfighters.
  • Restore U.S. Manufacturing as a Global Powerhouse: The U.S. must invest in dual-use manufacturing technologies, leveraging advanced practices to enable scalable production of both commercial and military goods, ensuring adaptability and resilience during conflict.
  • Attract, Train, and Retain Talent for Our Nation: The U.S. must cultivate a skilled, innovative workforce that thrives in both the public and private sectors, supported by a DoD culture that values expertise, adaptability, and national security impact.
  • Shift DoD Resources to Innovative Programs and Unlock Private Capital: The DoD must redirect up to 15% of its budget from legacy systems to emerging technologies, reducing risks to attract private capital and accelerate innovation.

As the report warns, the U.S. faces an unprecedented challenge in adapting its defense systems to modern threats. Without immediate action, there is a tangible risk of losing the next major conflict.

“We’re at a critical turning point that has been building for decades and we must quickly change how things work at the Department of Defense,” said Michael R. Bloomberg. “We can’t afford to wait to take urgent action, and we can’t be afraid to upset the apple cart. Without taking the kinds of steps outlined in this report, the U.S. faces grave risks to our security, our freedoms, and our position in the world.”

General David Berger added, “Our adversaries are outpacing us in speed, scale, and capability. This report is a call to action for a whole-of-nation effort to reverse this trajectory and ensure America’s strategic superiority.”

The report also includes legislative recommendations aimed at enabling decisive changes in defense innovation policy. These proposals focus on creating alternative funding pipelines, addressing supply chain vulnerabilities, and fostering public-private partnerships to mobilize resources efficiently.

The release of Strategic Edge aligns with broader efforts to modernize the Department of Defense and foster collaboration with allies and private industry. It signals a pivotal moment for stakeholders across government, industry, and academia to come together and secure the future of national defense.

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