How to Win the Defense Innovation Contest

Washington’s alliances are under immense strain. Many allies and partners are subject to increased threats from great-power adversaries, and they are coming to doubt whether they can rely on the United States. The response to these pressures is to rearm. Like the United States itself, U.S. partners across Asia, Europe, and elsewhere are building up their defense industrial and technological bases to improve their ability to project power, deter enemies, and prevail in a protracted conflict.

The problem is that both the United States and its partners have treated their defense buildups primarily as domestic projects when what they need, in fact, is to pool their resources more effectively. The war with Iran demonstrates the risks of a siloed approach: American legacy platforms—stealth fighters, guided missile destroyers, and aircraft carriers—delivered potent attacks but could not eliminate Iran’s military threat. The conflict rapidly depleted U.S. stockpiles of high-end, long-range strike munitions and air defense interceptors, while U.S. bases, Gulf infrastructure, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz proved vulnerable to cheap and plentiful Iranian missiles and drones. It was just the latest illustration that no single country, not even one as powerful as the United States, can by itself produce drones, ships, and critical munitions on a sufficient scale or develop a defense industrial base that is innovative and adaptable enough to prevail in a protracted, high-intensity conflict or to deter capable adversaries.