CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS ARE DANGEROUSLY IRRESOLUTE: Unpredictable Pentagon Spending Causing Vendors to Leave Marketplace; Research and Development Stagnant.

The cyclical nature of department budgeting, including delays in getting new spending approved, is a problem for all but the largest vendors, said Eric Chewning, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, as a member of the panel discussion.

With annual unsteady funding, Chewning said the department has been unable to “send demand signals to industry.”

“The reality is that the Defense Department does not exist for the purpose of taking care of the industrial base. it’s the other way around, said Frank Kendall, former undersecretary of Defense. “So, what the Department of Defense has to do is to ensure, to the extent that it can while doing its mission, that there is a healthy industrial base to support it.”

When Congress won’t budget, defense industries can’t.