On April 30, my nearly eight-year tenure as leader of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) concluded and I joined the ranks of AIA members as the president and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it happens, my last day at AIA also marked the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon \u2014 though I try not to look on that as personally symbolic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This anniversary is somewhat ironic in that if you were to ask the current government of Vietnam if a militarily strong United States is needed to keep the peace in Asia, the answer would be a resounding yes. Can you imagine the position of small but important countries like Vietnam and South Korea if America was not prepared to backstop their security? It speaks directly to the necessity of American global defense leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another anniversary illustrates the importance of taking the long view regarding defense investments. Four years ago this week, the US military launched an operation called Neptune Spear. While the Navy SEAL attack on Osama bin Laden’s compound was in direct response to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the technologies that enabled our brave SEALs to carry out the raid without loss of American or collateral civilian life took decades to develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank goodness we made the commitment to develop systems such as the modified “stealth” Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that flew undetected over hundreds of miles of Pakistani airspace to Abbottabad, and the Sentinel unmanned aircraft system that provided the White House situation room with real-time imagery from above, as well as the L-3 night-vision goggles that enabled the SEAL team members to quickly identify and dispatch their target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I leave AIA very proud of the incredible work our companies have done to keep the men and women of our armed services equipped with defense systems that are the technological marvel of the world. But I worry that America’s hard-won military superiority is at risk due to our self-imposed decade of fiscal austerity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 requires defense cuts of nearly $500 billion through fiscal year 2023 above and beyond the $487 billion in cuts already in implementation. And as the last three secretaries of defense and the Joint Chiefs have forcefully asserted, as a result of these cuts the military has been forced to significantly diminish readiness while we’re also failing to invest in the new systems and technologies required for continued US military superiority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is happening at a time when our enemies and potential adversaries are working night and day to either directly harm our nation or diminish our strategic role for good in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Islamic State and its brutal tactics, the grandiose imperial ambitions of Vladimir Putin, and China’s long-term efforts to redefine Asia’s security and stability are not imaginary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking forward, I believe our defense companies and their skilled workforces are more than up to the task of keeping America “second to none” if they are given the proper tools and incentives to do their job efficiently and creatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversely, we’ve learned that the defense industrial base is a fragile commodity; if we go too far in the direction of cutting back and shackling our companies up and down the supply chain with cumbersome regulatory mandates, one day in the future a US president may be awakened by a 3:00 a.m. phone call and not like at all the limitations on his or her options for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please allow me to suggest an agenda for addressing our nation’s legitimate national security needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, we must break the political logjam and develop a bipartisan consensus to break free of the BCA budget caps. There is already talk on Capitol Hill of legislators coming together as Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., did with their budget agreement two years ago, to provide additional meaningful budget relief for defense spending and important domestic priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aerospace and defense community, joined by allies who recognize the importance of investing in national security and innovation through research and development, should keep the heat on our legislators until the budget caps are relegated to the dumpster of bad policy ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decade-long defense modernization holiday based on the dangerous illusion that history’s zealots have lost their will to fight simply must end. And members of Congress should listen to the true subject matter experts who are trying to protect and improve America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the Joint Chiefs tell them American lives will be lost if we don’t restore defense investments to adequate levels \u2026 when an intelligence analyst tells them that defeating ISIS requires new strategies and new technologies for the war fighter \u2026 and when the wounded warrior at the VFW back home tells them that his mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle saved his life, our elected leaders need to listen very carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, let’s advance the work of defense acquisition reform, so that industry is able to give our armed services the best bang for the buck. And I’m quite confident that government, working in partnership with industry, can make this happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One development of which I’m particularly proud during my time at AIA is the initiation and continuation of the industry’s most senior, regular dialogue with DoD officials. This began as a series of meetings we organized between our member company CEOs and then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates and continues right on through to Secretary Ash Carter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have had senior level officials such as Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work; Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; and Defense Technology Security Administration Director Beth McCormick give addresses to our Board of Governors and our Supplier Management Council, and meet with member company representatives at the Farnborough and Paris air shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s a mark of the strength of our partnership that we can meet in the spirit of cooperation to find common ground and achieve our mutual objectives. And our dialogue has resulted in real progress to reform the cumbersome defense acquisition process and tackle other issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, we’ve welcomed the Pentagon’s Better Buying Power 3.0 (BBP 3.0) proposal and offered detailed recommendations for making BBP 3.0 work more effectively in the national interest. Our recommendations call on DoD to focus on incentives that promote industry investments in innovative products and services as well as incentives to cut costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pentagon’s profit policy can certainly be fine-tuned to encourage company investment strategies that lead to innovation and efficiency. Contracting officers can determine that special rules for the treatment of reasonable profit and contract financing tied to investment in DoD technology priorities is appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Industry can work with DoD to identify barriers to the use of commercial technologies in defense systems and implement approaches to overcome them. And the Pentagon can incorporate a robust technology refresh process for major programs with contracting approaches that don’t inhibit contractor investments for system performance improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, in addition to emphasizing buying power, I’d like to see the Pentagon address what AIA Board Chairman David Joyce of General Electric Aviation calls “Better Selling Power.” Defense officials can work with industry to review the foreign military sales process to enable our companies to enhance their global competitiveness and expand their source of working capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During my time at AIA, the US government has taken significant strides toward promoting a national defense export strategy that helps advance national security interests and the economic prospects of our companies. I’m hopeful this concept really takes flight in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aerospace Industries Association was formed in 1919, when a war-weary world expressed hopes for a lasting peace. As this organization approaches its centennial I continue to believe \u2014 as George Washington stated in his first annual address to Congress \u2014 that, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fueled by the right policies and incentives, I’m confident this industry will help our nation develop the conditions for peace based on strength in the decades ahead. I look forward to working with my industry colleagues and my successor at AIA to ensure this comes about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blakey is former Aerospace Industries Association president and new president and CEO of Rolls-Royce America<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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