CRS Reports – Week of 10-7-23 – Defense Industrial Base

The Congressional Research Service published a report on “US Defense Industrial Base: Background and Issues for Congress”. The document summary explains:

“The DIB encompasses a wide variety of entities, including commercial firms operated on a for profit basis, not-for-profit research centers and university laboratories, and government-owned industrial facilities. It provides everything from large, technologically sophisticated weapons platforms (e.g., nuclear submarines) and highly specialized operational support (e.g., intelligence analysis) to general commercial products (e.g., laptop computers) and routine services (e.g., information technology support). By supplying and equipping the armed services, the DIB enables the United States to execute national strategy and develop, maintain, and project military power.”

There is a minor cybersecurity mention in the discussion on Supply Chain Resilience, particularly in regards to the “proliferation of counterfeit items (particularly for microelectronics)”, but the report provides little focus on those issue, completely missing, for instance, any discussion about the impact of the DOD’s Cyber Security Maturity Model certification process. Instead the report focuses on overseas sourcing and domestic content issues.