Pentagon: Loss of U.S. industrial base affecting miliary needs

A sodlier uses a powered torque wrench to tighten the bolts that will secure a Frag 5 armor kit onto the door of a humvee in March. The new up-armors feature reinforced hooks on doors so because they can jam shut during an attack and trap soldiers inside. The hooks allow the doors to be pulled open by another vehicle with a cable.

The country’s shrinking industrial base and the Pentagon’s specialized demands for parts and technology put U.S. defense needs in a difficult position and must be seriously addressed, a Pentagon official told members of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserve Wednesday.

P. Jackson “Jack” Bell, deputy undersecretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness, said this is particularly the case when the military requires parts quickly, such as when the Pentagon called for Humvees to be up-armored.

The industrial base, he said, “where it may be adequate sometimes ... doesn’t have either the capacity or the interest to surge the needs requirements that are somewhat short-lived.

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