![handle is hein.crs/govelcp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service
Informing the legislative debate since 1914
Updated March 30, 2023
Defense Primer: The National Technology and Industrial Base
What Is the NTUB?
The National Technology and Industrial Base (NTIB)
consists of the people and organizations engaged in national
security and dual-use research and development (R&D),
production, maintenance, and related activities within the
United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and
New Zealand. The NTIB, as established by 10 U.S.C.
§4801, is intended to support national security objectives of
the United States, including: supplying military operations;
conducting advanced R&D and systems development to
ensure technological superiority of the U.S. Armed Forces;
securing reliable sources of critical materials; and
developing industrial preparedness to support operations in
wartime or during a national emergency.
Establishing the NTB
During World War II, shipments of critical wartime
materials to the United States were disrupted. To ensure a
supply of defense articles in future conflicts, Congress and
the executive branch sought to establish a more robust
domestic defense industrial base. Over the next half-
century, evolving U.S. national security objectives led to
new legislation and regulations addressing the defense
industrial base, dual-use critical technologies, and
manufacturing technology. Defense spending, particularly
significant R&D investment, was critical to the
advancement of U.S. military and industrial technologies.
Following the end of the Cold War, Congress grappled with
the economic implications of reduced defense spending.
Responding to the perceived failure of the Department of
Defense to undertake serious technology and industrial base
planning-and the need to maintain a national technology
and industrial base capable of meeting future national
security and economic challenges-Congress mandated a
more active federal government role in shaping the U.S.
technology and industrial base through provisions in the
FY1993 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 102-484;
NDAA). These provisions enacted various related policies
and requirements, including establishing the NTIB,
formalizing in statute what had been a traditionally close
United States-Canada defense-industrial relationship.
Expanding the NTB
While the U.S. military has historically used advanced
technological capabilities as a strategic counterbalance to
superior force size and geographic advantages of
geopolitical rivals, recent trends have led some to question
the ability of the Department of Defense (DOD) to maintain
this dominance in the future. The sharp decline in U.S.
defense R&D spending as a share of global R&D spending,
together with the rise of the private sector in driving
innovation, pose challenges to DOD's reliance on
technology for battlefield advantage. Analysts and DOD
officials increasingly assess that allies and potential
adversaries alike are achieving technological parity with-
and in some sectors, superiority over-the U.S. military. In
the FY2017 NDAA (P.L. 114-328), driven in part by this
concern, Congress expanded the NTIB to include the
United Kingdom and Australia. S.Rept. 114-255 describes
global R&D as shifting abroad, in part to avoid U.S.
technology transfer and export control rules, raising
concerns that
innovation may be increasingly conducted overseas with
technology more readily available to potential adversaries
than to the U.S. military because of the lack of civil-
military integration of the [NTIB].
In the FY2023 NDAA (P.L. 117-263), Congress further
expanded the NTIB to include New Zealand.
How Does the NTB Operate?
Among other matters, the National Defense Technology
and Industrial Base Council (10 U.S.C. §4812) is
responsible for ensuring interagency cooperation in
promoting the NTIB. The council consists of the Secretaries
of Defense, Energy, Commerce, and Labor, and other
officials appointed by the President. While the U.S.
government has a governing body to coordinate activities
across agencies, no such structure with representation of all
NTIB member countries exists. The Secretary of Defense is
also required to establish a national security strategy for the
NTIB (10 U.S.C. §4811) and submit an annual report to
Congress addressing NTIB capabilities, performance, and
vulnerabilities (10 U.S.C. §4814).
Statutory Benefits of NUTIB M emnbership
NTIB countries benefit from certain limited statutory
preferences. Procurement of conventional ammunition can
be restricted to NTIB sources and must be from the NTIB
in a national emergency or when necessary for industrial
mobilization (10 U.S.C. Ch. 223 note proceeding). Fire-
resistant rayon fiber in uniforms may only be procured from
a non-NTIB member if NTIB sources are not available (10
U.S.C. §4862 (note)). Buses, chemical weapons antidotes,
ball and roller bearings, satellite star trackers, and certain
components for naval vessels may only be procured from
NTIB manufacturers, unless the Secretary of Defense
waives this restriction (10 U.S.C. §4864).
Some NTIB entities may also be exempted from the foreign
ownership, control, or influence requirements of the
National Industrial Security Program, and may also be
exempted from the requirement to obtain a national interest
determination to be awarded a contract under a national
security program (10 U.S.C. §4874).
How Effective Is the NTB!
Some analysts argue that domestic sourcing requirements,
such as the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. Ch. 83) and the
Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment (10 U.S.C. §8679), as well
as policies implementing preferential treatment for](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govelcp0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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