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Title: Defense industrial base: industrial preparedness and nuclear war survival. Part I. Hearings before the Joint Committee on Defense Production, Congress of the United States, Ninety-Fourth Congress, Second Session, November 17, 1976

Book ·
OSTI ID:7116696

Hearings were held to examine the present status, cost, and mobilization potential of the defense industry. Principal witnesses before the committee were Hon. Jacques S. Gansler, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Material Acquisition, and Thomas K. Jones, program and product evaluation manager of Boeing Aerospace Co., which has conducted an independent study of the feasibility of protecting industrial facilities from nuclear attack. Senator Tower spoke of the need to prevent an imbalance of world stability by keeping a viable defense industrial preparedness. Mr. Gansler stressed that readiness plans have to be based on what are perceived as the most likely forms of conflict. Prestocked war material reserves should be adequate to sustain forces for the initial period of a war, while existing production lines should be able to increase output to cover the first year. Curtailment of defense procurement expenditures since the Vietnam War is cited as indicating a trend away from preparedness. Mr. Gansler described problems of subcontractors, who make less profit than prime contractors, and recommended that more purchases be made from the private sector. Testimony also covered the cost savings from foreign military sales and the status of civil defense preparedness. Mr. Jones expressed concern for the lack of emphasis on industrial survival compared with that of the Soviet Union. He recommended the formulation of a policy to ensure a survival capability of the work force. (DCK)

OSTI ID:
7116696
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English