The Heavy Bomber Industrial Base

The declining procurement level and reduced quantity of new program starts driven by a dramatically smaller defense budget have generated concern for the continuing viability of the defense base. Recent research on the impact of the aerospace industrial base's downsizing relative to heavy bomber production has narrowly focused on the loss of technical and theoretical capabilities. Researchers have adopted this position despite the fact the United States has repeatedly demonstrated its ingenuity and capacity to design and build weapons systems exploiting state-of-the-art technology. This research was conducted to demonstrate that merely assessing the loss of mental and physical capital will not provide America with a realistic assessment of its future ability to field a threatening heavy bomber force. The thesis of this research is that the concern for heavy bomber production should not be limited to just maintaining the critical skills and capabilities necessary to produce these aircraft, but rather should increase in scope to examine the practical feasibility of procuring bombers in the future at acceptable costs and within required timelines.