New Trends in Defense Procurement Offer Opportunities for Small Business

By Luke Lorenz
Oct 22 2015 |
Photo courtesy of Expert Infantry

Increasing competition and promoting innovation helps our military and our entrepreneurs

America’s greatest strength has always resided in its entrepreneurs and innovators. Perhaps no industry depends on these talents more regularly and urgently than our defense industrial base. Especially today, when warfare is dictated not by size and strength but by technology, America needs the cutting edge technologies and weaponry that will give us the advantage on the battlefield.

Twenty-first century warfare offers a host of challenges so it is only fitting that the Department of Defense is offering a variety of opportunities for collaborative solutions.

Since the 1990’s, major defense contractors have substantially diminished in number. At the top tier of procurement, America’s largest defense contractors have merged to the point where competition is almost nonexistent. But in the second and third tiers, a growing trend offers hope for new entrants with innovative ideas.

The Department of Defense has actively sought to include small business and independent innovators in the future of military technological development and procurement. According to a new report, it seems that their efforts are paying off.

The Defense Industrial Initiatives Group of the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a report on the competitiveness of defense procurement, reflecting the increased significance of small businesses in electronics and communications contracts.

This development bodes well for all participants in the defense procurement process. The Department of Defense gains the best new technological developments conceived by the country’s greatest new minds who had previously been far removed from the DoD’s network of contractors.

This new approach has the potential to expedite innovation and production, reduce costs, and expand America’s domestic defense suppliers rather than outsource production to potentially hostile or unreliable nations. Such creative methods will ensure that we remain at the forefront of defense technology while safeguarding our defense industrial base with American ingenuity.