Budget woes may slow Pentagon efforts to strengthen industry
The Defense Department released the first implementation plan for its defense-industry strategy.
Lauren C. Williams | October 29, 2024 04:08 PM ET
Industry Pentagon Congress
Lawmakers’ continued failure to pass a 2025 budget could hinder Pentagon efforts to beef up supply chains and bolster defense, defense officials warned Tuesday.
They spoke at the release of the Defense Department’s nearly 100-page implementation plan for its inaugural defense industry strategy. The plan is broadly intended to bolster supply chains to make weapons securely, faster, and en masse. It outlines six initiatives for fiscal 2025, starting with improvements to the missile and submarine industries.
“It's best for us to have a full budget done…on time for us to be able to implement. It creates a lot of challenges in procurement, in general, and also in planning for us, when we have these continuing resolutions. So we're hopeful that Congress will work together and develop and pass a bill, a defense policy bill, as well as a funding bill soon,” Laura Taylor-Kale, who leads Pentagon industrial base policy, told reporters Tuesday.
The Pentagon spent about $39.4 billion on the industry strategy in fiscal 2024, according to a fact sheet, and asked for $37.7 billion in 2025.
https://www.defenseone.com/business/2024/10/budget-woes-may-slow-pentagon-efforts-strengthen-industry/400651/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
