Programs

Acquisition & Sustainment remains committed to enabling the delivery and sustainment of capability to our Warfighters. The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy hosts a number of resources, from reports outlining the importance of manufacturing and the industrial base to national security to funding opportunities for businesses. The Department of Defense (DoD) maximizes opportunities for small businesses to compete for DoD prime contracts and subcontracts. A Defense Acquisition toolkit has been designed for the purpose of encouraging small businesses to maximize shared interests.

Semiconductors, or chips, are tiny electronic devices that are integral to America’s economic and national security. These devices power tools as simple as a light switch and as complex as a fighter jet or a smartphone. Semiconductors power our consumer electronics, automobiles, data centers, critical infrastructure, and virtually all military systems. They are also essential building blocks of the technologies that will shape our future, including artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.

While the United States remains a global leader in semiconductor design and research and development, it has fallen behind in manufacturing and now accounts for only about 10 percent of global commercial production. Today, none of the most advanced logic and memory chips—the chips that power PCs, smartphones, and supercomputers—are manufactured at commercial scale in the United States. In addition, many elements of the semiconductor supply chain are geographically concentrated, leaving them vulnerable to disruption and endangering the global economy and U.S. national security.

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 provides the Department of Commerce with $50 billion for a suite of programs to strengthen and revitalize the U.S. position in semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing — while also investing in American workers.

The Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP) aims to advance biotechnology as part of efforts to strengthen and build the resiliency of America's defense industrial base and secure its supply chains. Biomanufacturing has the potential to support the U.S. military and our allies and partners by generating needed materials — from fuels and chemicals to food and medical supplies — where and when our forces need them has significant implications for our military. 

The Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) Office oversees the execution of the Defense Production Act Investments (DPAI) and Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) portfolios, utilizing all available authorities to address the challenge and incentivize industry.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program’s Manufacturing Education and Workforce Development (M-EWD) Program’s mission is to work alongside regional ecosystems to develop and enhance already established education systems to assist in the creation of a high-performance manufacturing workforce ready to support the needs of the defense industrial base.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) Manufacturing Science and Technology Program (MSTP) is a research and development investment portfolio focused on a set of identified joint, defense-critical, and sometimes high-risk manufacturing technology areas.