The shortage of suppliers of critical war items continues to be
a source of consternation for buyers of military equipment, says
the Army’s senior procurement official.
“The service economy is great if you don’t have to
field an army,” says Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Yakovac Jr., military
deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition. Slower-than-desired
deliveries of armored trucks, body armor and other key supplies
are caused by a lack of industrial capacity, Yakovac tells an industry
conference. “You need some type of indigenous manufacturing
capability … That’s been our problem. Nobody wants to
hear it. But there have been some things we’ve been slow to
provide because there is no industrial base, or there is just one
supplier.”
According to an Army Materiel Command official, current industrial
shortages include ballistic protection materials for body armor,
armored steel for Humvees and the newest jamming devices used to
detonate roadside bombs in Iraq, known as CREW-2.