Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics and three-time Wash100 Award recipient, said prime contractors' acquisition of middle-tier companies has shrunk the industrial base, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.
The Department of Defense (DoD) now sees the industrial base as more generalized than specialized, as major contractors secure awards for almost every program, Roper told reporters Thursday at a press event.
The assistant secretary noted that this trend lowers competition and may limit the U.S. Air Force's options for future solicitations. “As you build that generalization and the overhead required to mechanize it, you get the same inefficiency in companies that you see in the government,” he said.
