The US Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) has warned in opposition to dependence on ambiguously sourced supplies and elements from overseas suppliers.
Whereas the general public spending watchdog acknowledged that the federal government has carried out measures to extend provide chain visibility in defence, the GAO recommends that the Division of Protection (DoD) coordinate these efforts in a report printed on 24 July 2025.
This geostrategic vulnerability comes at a time when the present administration is overhauling the defence equipment with the intention to hasten the acquisition of deadly weapon techniques.
With a mandate to demolish all bureaucratic impediments, the GAO’s name for extra constructions – together with a brand new workplace – to extend visibility of the availability chain will probably go unheeded by the US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose doctrine contradicts these suggestions in apply.
FPDS gives restricted information
Nonetheless, the GAO found that the first government-wide database for procurement – the Federal Procurement Information System (FPDS) – incorporates abstract stage contract info on items. There may be restricted details about the international locations of origin for these items.
Sometimes, the system doesn’t discover the contribution of subcontractors, for instance.
“These efforts are uncoordinated and restricted in scope and supply little perception into the overwhelming majority of suppliers, together with people who present uncooked supplies and elements,” the impartial reviewer discovered.
Contesting the figures
It’s price noting that the GAO report doesn’t explicitly level to any particular overseas suppliers as a threat to US nationwide safety and defence however as a substitute emphasises the dangers already seeping into defence procurement.
The GAO pointed to the F-35 Lightning II programme by which the FPDS considers the US because the nation of origin for 114 out of 115 contracts associated to the far-reaching fifth era fight plane programme in fiscal years (FY) 2020 to 2024.
In actuality, F-35 is a worldwide product behind which there are greater than 290,000 jobs and 1,900 suppliers (1,000 of that are small companies), spanning greater than ten international locations exterior the US. The UK alone claims that roughly 15% of each F-35 jet is in-built Britain.
Moreover, the DoD, by Lockheed Martin, discovered that magnets included on some F-35s originated from China, an adversary and navy competitor whom the federal government considers a strategic rival on the world stage.
On this backdrop, the US can also be struggling to untangle an intricate net of military-civilian fusion. That is an underlying, predatory coverage in China that may improve the Folks’s Liberation Military by deriving innovation and information from contained in the US defence industrial base.
Implausibly, FPDS even considers the US because the nation of origin for about 96% of obligations for items that the DoD procured between FY2020-24 based mostly on greenback worth.
Likewise, based on GAO evaluation, the FPDS identifies the US because the palce of manufacture and nation of origin for almost 100% digital microcircuits price $1.3bn in the identical time interval.
Nonetheless, DoD officers insist that 88% of the manufacturing and 98% of meeting, packaging, and testing of all microelectronics are carried out abroad—primarily in Taiwan, South Korea, and China.
Burning bridges
“DoD acknowledges that there are critical nationwide safety implications for not realizing the place parts of the products it procures are manufactured,” the report accepts. “This doubtlessly contains dropping entry to vital supplies for weapon techniques.”
Nonetheless, the present administration has take up a policy of protectionism to its personal detriment.
Since April, President Donald Trump has made negotiations on totally different ranges of tariffs with international locations all over the world. Even the UK has come by scathed by a ten% tariff with some restricted exceptions, similar to Rolls Royce engines wanted for varied American defence platforms.
Some corporations have mitigated the impression of world tariffs by having a footprint in the US industrial base. BAE Methods, a British-based prime, expects minimal impact as a result of it’s embedded inside the defence procurement system.
Likewise, the tactless diplomacy of the present administration, with threats to annex Canada and Greenland, will solely impede US efforts to strengthen its defence provide chain. There are quite a few vital minerals sourced responsibly from international locations similar to Canada, for instance, together with supplies similar to tungsten, a metallic used for its hardness and warmth resistance.
