Naval War College Review Volume 63 Article 14 Number 3 Summer
2010 Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First-Century Defense Industry David Foster
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Recommended Citation Foster, David (2010) "Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First-Century Defense Industry," Naval War College Review: Vol. 63 : No. 3 , Article 14. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol63/iss3/14
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Foster: Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty BOOK REVIEWS 157
which defeat helped lead China to mod- For decades, analysts have understood ernize its navy; defeat in both opium the nonmarket conditions of defense wars forced China to bring new ideas to development and procurement. First, the forefront. Bernard Cole’s assess- government-as-buyer and ultimate legal ment of the Cold War reveals a Chinese authority are atypical market con- naval service viewed by its military and straints and, second, military weapons civilian masters as an organization systems often have no commercial whose primary mission was to support equivalents and may also have several army forces. Defensive concerns gained unique component or material require- priority, and a new engagement with ments—for example a one-off elec- naval power had to await the end of the tronic component architecture. Cold War. The recent trend of fewer systems re- Current Chinese developments under- quired, or at least procured, in the line the folly of the Western military roughly synchronous post–Cold War posture, with its planning largely fo- and precision-munitions eras has more cused on Afghanistan and Iran. There is often than not exaggerated the already a serious risk that crucial long-term ca- anomalous defense-systems market. pability will be sacrificed to the exigen- The Department of Defense (DoD) gen- cies of campaigning in Afghanistan. erally buys or intends to buy smaller While the development of Chinese ca- numbers of more capable and compli- pability has led to responses by such re- cated ships, manned aircraft, tanks, gional powers as Japan, Taiwan, munitions, etc., than it has in the past. Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Advancing technological sophistication South Korea, there has not been a suffi- and relatively smaller unit buys, in turn, cient move from awareness to action on pressure defense-systems suppliers’ the part of other powers. The Chinese business models, alliances and acquisi- naval challenge is apparent as an aspect tions, systems integration competen- of an increasingly far-flung Chinese de- cies, and subassembly, component, and fense system that has serious implica- material supply chains. tions for Western interests in the James Hasik is a defense industry ana- Middle East and South Asia—implica- lyst and former naval officer with de- tionsthatarenotaddressedbycounter- grees in history, physics, and business. insurgency capability. His first book (coauthored with Mi- JEREMY BLACK chael Rip in 2002) was a well received, University of Exeter, England comprehensive examination of GPS and its implications in modern warfare. With this book, Hasik continues his in- sightful analysis of the DoD toolbox via a set of six case studies covering dispa- Hasik, James. Arms and Innovation: Entrepre- rate defense-system development proj- neurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First- ects woven into a succinct but Century Defense Industry. Chicago: Univ. of Chi- overarching analysis of the current in- cago Press, 2008. 224pp. $35 ternational arms industry. The cases ex- amined are air, land, sea, and space
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158 NAVAL WARNaval COLLEGE War REVIEW College Review, Vol. 63 [2010], No. 3, Art. 14
systems, each a precision-guided chapters, Hasik provides a cogent and weapon project and a mission-planning instructive assessment of innovative system. technology development and procure- The book’s foremost merit is its sober ment approaches across defense system analysis, grounded in business econom- sectors. Arms and Innovation suggests ics. Each case covers technological, eco- opportunities for more nimble defense nomic, and operational trade-offs and systems innovation in the future, op- frames each project within a relevant portunities that do not require compre- and timely international business con- hensive acquisition reforms or text. For example, Hasik’s space-system reiterations of revolutions in military case emphasizes the competencies and affairs. alliances of the few firms competing in DAVID FOSTER the satellite business. He explores the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, California credible competition for the Space- Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS Low) satellite contract by the five- hundred-employee Spectrum Astro Corporation against the established and significantly larger firm TRW Inc. Yoo, John. Crisis and Command: A History of Ex- ecutive Power from George Washington to George Hasik’s land-vehicle case demonstrates W. Bush. New York: Kaplan, 2009. 524pp. $29.95 how the DoD benefited from decades of prior research and development in John Yoo’s most recent book is far South Africa on blast-resistant vehicle more than a defense of the George W. design, greatly accelerating the Army’s Bush administration, which he served, and Marine Corps’s adaptations for our as some of his many critics may find it. current wars. As a bonus, Hasik adroitly In fact, Crisis and Command is a care- presents the academically rigorous fully documented study of the exercise clearly, and for a reader accustomed to of presidential power from George plowing through the arcane prose of Washington to President Obama. This technical reports and academic papers, is the last book in a trilogy by Yoo, the this is no small gift. first two being The Powers of War and Peace (2005), which explains the found- The Department of Defense is con- ers’ original understanding of the stantly looking for innovative technolo- foreign-affairs power within the gies through its service labs and several Constitution, and War by Other Means science and technology development (2006), which discusses the law and programs. The enduring challenge is in logic behind the Bush administration’s managing the underlying risk and in the counterterrorism policies. This study integration into a complex system-of- extends well beyond the Bush adminis- systems life cycle amid competing pri- tration, focusing mainly on Presidents orities, operational commitments, and Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lin- assessments of the future strategic envi- coln, and Franklin Roosevelt. In each of ronment. Although this book could be these respected leaders Yoo finds bold more comprehensive, it need not be. presidents who changed the existing po- Through his case-study selection and litical order and transformed it into opening and closing synthesizing
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