Domestic Military Manufacturing Is Essential for National Security

For nearly a century, America’s military strength has come largely through self-reliance. We not only made the ships, airplanes and tanks, our country supplied the parts and materials for these complex systems. But a lot has changed in recent times.

For example, while modern jet engines may typically include between 30,000 and 50,000 parts, ensuring they are “China-free” has proven to be incredibly difficult. We’ve already seen deliveries of F-35s delayed over this issue, revealing that supply chain risk and delays remain in the post-COVID era. For instance, in 2022, a magnet in the turbomachine used in engine start-up was discovered to contain a China-produced alloy of cobalt and samarium – figuratively becoming a “non-starter” for using the jets.

Moreover, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this past July entitled, “Defense Industrial Base: Actions Needed to Address Risks Posed by Dependence on Foreign Suppliers” which pretty much summed it up.

As China has risen, America’s manufacturing sector has steadily declined, losing millions of jobs and share of global output.

China has allocated vast resources towards subsidizing and onshoring manufacturing and development of “indigenous” advanced propulsion systems, and are catching up to our military engines – challenging air superiority.

This is why appropriate investment by Congress in the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) systems is essential to maintaining America’s technological and military lead.

While the U.S. Air Force has made significant investments in funding for NGAP development, it comes after stagnation in military propulsion.

In President Trump’s FY26 Budget proposal, NGAP was funded at roughly $330 million, representing a 23% decrease in funding from the previous year. Underfunding engine development puts the program at risk of significant schedule delays and cost increases. These facts lay the groundwork for a serious debate in both chambers of Congress as they look to fund our current and future military needs.

While U.S. companies are working on a prototype that will improve performance, increase range, and fuel efficiency of fighter jets, it can only grow at the pace of investment.

NGAP is designed to power the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform, America’s first sixth generation fighter, (now designated as the F-47). Its combination of stealth, speed and maneuverability would probably seem like science fiction to military pilots a century ago. NGAD is designed to work with unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for air dominance. Unmanned CCA’s, perhaps the world’s most advanced drones, will fly alongside manned NGAD as a so-called “loyal wingman” and can be configured for a wide variety of missions.

While the F-47 is not expected to enter service until the 2030s, unfortunately for America, China has already introduced not one, but two flying sixth generation fighters on the same day last year. Little is known about the capabilities of the two models, but the fact that China has developed and flown two advanced fighter designs before the F-47 even put a rivet to metal should be incredibly concerning for all Americans.

For the U.S. to counter this challenge, a robust, resilient domestic manufacturing base in high-tech industries is essential. This requires not only investing in advanced manufacturing facilities but also revitalizing workforce training programs, increasing R&D funding, and fostering innovation ecosystems in key technological areas.

Though China is among our top trading partners, it’s also paradoxically among our top threats. It strongly supports North Korea, an existential threat to our allies South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, we generously support Taiwan, which it sees as a renegade province worthy of invasion at any time. Our heavy reliance on China trade, combined with adversarial alliances is not only unwise, but also a recipe for catastrophe. Therefore, we must divorce China from our military manufacturing and supply system entirely. Either that or simply abandon our Pacific allies and do a “180” in foreign policy – a major defeat of American power.

We can and should bring more domestic manufacturing back to the U.S. through smarter policies and programs. We must strengthen investment to ensure potential adversaries do not gain a military and technological edge. Congress and President Trump ought to insist upon it.

Scott Vadnais is a retired Air Force officer and served in dozens of countries around the world, including Europe, Middle East, and Far East. He is also a former senior strategic planner at General Dynamics Information Technologies.