The rise and fall of Defense Manufacturing Technology programs.

In September 1995, the National Science and Technology Council published a report of the Subcommittee on Manufacturing Infrastructure recommending that the 1996 interagency S&T budget focus on three high-priority technical areas--Agile/Flexible Manufacturing, Rapid Prototyping (Virtual and Physical), and Intelligent Controls and Sensors. (18)

Mantech program funding went from $97 million in the period of 1970-1979 to $159 million in the period of 1980-1989 to $288 million in the period of 1991-1993, and then dropped back to $150 million level in the rest of the 1990s to $180 million now.

In 1994, federal investment in manufacturing R&D funding peaked at $1.767 billion, which included $600 million in DARPA, $625 million in Technology Reinvestment Plan (TRP), and $200 million in NIST's Advanced Technology Program (ATP).

DARPA's manufacturing budget has gone from an average of $538 million from 1993 to 1995 to essentially nothing.

In 1996 DOD's budget support for manufacturing science and technology dropped to approximately $100 million, down from $200 million. ManTech has had little support within the services and DoD since that time. Over the ensuing eight years very little has been accomplished in getting the DDR&E, the Director of DARPA, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology and the Services to agree on what ManTech should be focused on with appropriate funding budgeted. The Defense Science Board is currently studying the role of ManTech.

Bibliography:

(1.) GAO/NSIAD-85-5 "DoD Manufacturing Technology Program--Management Is Improving But Benefits Hard To Measure," November 30, 1984.

(2.) National Research Council Manufacturing Studies Board report on "The Role of DOD in Supporting Manufacturing Technology Development," 1986.

(3.) National Research Council Manufacturing Studies Board report on "Toward a New Era in U.S. Manufacturing--The Need for a National Vision," 1986.

(4.) National Research Council Manufacturing Studies Board report on "Manufacturing Technology: Cornerstone of a Renewed Industrial Base," 1987.

(5.) Report to SECDEF by the USD (Acquisition) "Bolstering Defense Industrial Competitiveness," July 1988.

(6.) The Center for Strategic and International Studies report on the "Deterrence in Decay: The Future of the U.S. Industrial Base," May 1989.

(7.) Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) report (GPO 052-003-011550-6) on "Holding the Edge: Maintaining the Defense Technology Base," May 1989.

(8.) American Defense Preparedness Association White Paper entitled "Manufacturing Technology: The Key to the Defense Industrial Base," October 1989.

(9.) National Research Council Manufacturing Studies Board report on "Industrial Preparedness: National Resource and Deterrent to War," 1990.

(10.) DDR&E (Charles Herzfeld) statement on the "DoD Critical Technologies Plan" before the Subcommittee on Defense Industry and Technology of the Committee on Armed Services U.S. Senate, May 7, 1991.

(11.) "The National Defense Manufacturing Technology Plan" submitted by ASD (Production & Logistics) in April 1992.

(12.) Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET) established an interagency focus on Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) for FY 1994, August 1993.

(13.) DDR&E (Victor Reis) report on the seven thrust areas for which Technology For Affordability is number 7: "The New Defense Science and Technology Strategy," July 1992.

(14.) USD (Acquisition) ODDR&E Thrust Seven "Defense Manufacturing Science & Technology Integration Plan," December 21, 1992.

(15.) The National Center for Advanced Technologies (NCAT) report on "Technology For Affordability," January 1994.

(16.) The National Center for Advanced Technologies (NCAT) report on "An Assessment of the MS&T Program in Today's Defense Manufacturing Environment: A Prelude to Action," April 1994.

(17.) American Defense Preparedness Association facilitated multi-association white paper entitled "Advanced Manufacturing: The Role of Manufacturing Science and Technology in the New Defense Acquisition Environment," June 1994.

(18.) The National Science & Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Civilian Technology (CCIT) "Report of the Subcommittee on Manufacturing Infrastructure," September 28, 1995.

(19.) Under the auspices of the multi-association R&D Coalition, the ADPA/NSIA Research, Engineering & Manufacturing Committee submitted critique to the Acting DDR&E (George Singley) of the January 1997 S&T Plan Materials/Processes DTAP and the thrust for affordability, July 7, 1997.

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