In 2021, Doug Berenson wrote “The Evolving Geography of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base” where he analyzed the concentration of the United States defense industrial base in key states. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we followed up with Doug to discuss the increase in U.S. defense spending and subsequent change in the defense industrial base.Read more below.Image: U.S. Army (Photo by John B. Snyder)In your article “The Evolving Geography of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base” written in 2021, you argued that the defense industrial base is concentrated in a limited number of states, which could present future problems for the Department of Defense. How has the defense industrial base evolved in the last three years?The pace of geographic change in the U.S. defense industrial base is gradual. Three years is not much time to see big changes manifest. However, the past three years have seen upheaval on the demand side. The wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and the Red Sea have created higher demand for munitions. The U.S. Navy has been trying to increase the rate at which public and private shipyards can build and maintain submarines. The Department of Defense has increased space-related investment, particularly using proliferated low-Earth orbit satellites and other emerging technologies.Efforts to expand capacity, as with ships and munitions, will primarily enhance existing operations concentrated in a few areas around the United States. Ship-related work should expand employment and capital investment chiefly in Virginia, Connecticut, and a few other places. Rising munitions production will impact contractor- and government-owned facilities in several states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, and Virginia. These spending trends will not fundamentally reshape the industrial landscape; rather, they will reinforce some of its existing footprint.The Department of Defense’s rising space investment is more about innovation than capacity. But here, too, suppliers aiming to fulfill that demand are concentrated mainly (though not entirely) in existing space
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In 2021, Doug Berenson wrote “The Evolving Geography of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base” where he analyzed the concentration of the United States defense industrial base in key states. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we followed up with Doug to discuss the increase in U.S. defense spending and subsequent change in the defense industrial base.Read more below.Image: U.S. Army (Photo by John B. Snyder)In your article “The Evolving Geography of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base” written in 2021, you argued that the defense industrial base is concentrated in a limited number of states, which could present future problems
