Aviation Week publishes, “Passing Grade: The US Defense Industrial Base is More Fit than Frail”, a commentary by Steve Grundman that takes stock of widespread hand-wringing over the health of the defense-industrial base and concludes the glass is at worst half full.

Writing in Aviation Week & Space Technology, Steve Grundman offers his critique of the many worried assessments giving “soberingly low marks” to the fitness of the defense industry. He wonders if a tendency to focus on diseased trees, so to speak, may be obscuring an appreciation of the forest, which, Grundman argues, is far more verdant than barren. In particular, he commends attention to the industry’s ability to attract talent, capital, and technology, which he regards as the trifecta of good industrial hygiene. Citing fresh evidence of each attribute, Grundman concludes that the defense industry is “doing just fine.”

View Aviation Week column here

View expanded commentary here