How dependent are we on our competitors to supply our consumables of combat? ⬇️

Forbes has must read article on the reliance of US drone manufacturers on Chinese supplied parts. It is an open secret that Western nations have deep dependencies on Chinese suppliers to deliver everything from everyday essentials to the consumables of combat. The Forbes article dives deep on the challenge facing the US as the Trump administration seeks to develop a Chinese free military drone supply chain:

“The conflict in Ukraine, rising tensions over Taiwan and the dominance of Chinese drone companies like market leader DJI have underscored the need for the U.S. military to source cheap and mass-produced drones from American and allied companies. But Thornton’s exchange highlighted an open secret in Silicon Valley: most drone companies answering the Trump administration’s America First mandate have a ‘Made in China’ parts problem.”

A former US Marine and product manager at Defence Innovation Unit also wrote a contentious op-ed in The Hill earlier this year arguing that the US has outsourced its large parts of its military supply chain to China and what is needed to ween the West off cheap consumables:

“Truly solving the problem will require more than central management from Washington. It will require incentivizing the private sector to do what it does best — develop innovative solutions in response to market demand. The defense industry relies on Chinese suppliers for the same reason other U.S. companies do. They are frequently cheaper and, after decades of offshoring, domestic alternatives may no longer exist.”

Australia is just as vulnerable if not more so to offshore disruption and supplier coercion. We got a glimpse of how vulnerable our supply chains are during COVID. In conflict we would see both deliberate sabotage of supply and the inevitable shortages heightened demand will cause on consumables with limited supply capacity.

Decoupling the Arsenal of Democracy from our competitors will take time but it is essential. We need to determine which supply chains need to be sovereign and what we can rely on our allies and partners to provide. A robust supply chain is a key ingredient in ensuring our nation and our military is both resilient and ready for whatever the most dangerous geopolitical circumstances since WWII sends our way.

🖼️ via Forbes – see a link this this excellent article and the Hill op-ed in the comments.