Knudsen Institute Calls for Policy Action as Operation Epic Fury Exposes a Industrial Base Blind Spot

DoD cannot see the sub-tier manufacturers that must feed surge production. The technology to fix that exists. The policy framework does not.

CHICKASHA, OK, UNITED STATES, March 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As Operation Epic Fury approaches its second week of conflict, the United States is burning through precision munitions at a rate that has alarmed allied defense ministers. Ultimately, however, the focus should be on the underlaying “invisible base” and not the Tier 1 Defense contractors. Today, Knudsen Institute released a white paper and policy brief calling on Congress and the Administration to establish manufacturing visibility as a formal national security infrastructure priority.

The policy documents, titled "The Invisible Base," argue that the central industrial base risk of the current conflict is not munitions stockpile depth or critical mineral supply chains. It is the Department of War’s inability to see the sub-tier manufacturers, specialty alloy processors, and feedstock sources that underpin every weapons system in the U.S. inventory.

When President Trump convened the chief executives of the six largest prime defense contractors and announced a commitment to quadruple precision munitions production, the manufacturers who must actually feed that surge were not in the room. Most of them are not in any DoD database. The Department of War does not know who they are, where they are, or whether they have capacity. That is the problem. Quadrupling a production commitment without visibility into the sub-tier supply chain that supports it does not produce weapons.

The white paper documents the specific sub-tier requirements for PAC-3 production increases, the materials corridor risk created by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the structural reason why major acquisition reforms do not reach the core problem.
The policy brief identifies four actions executable within existing authority structures: directing USD(A&S) to establish full-tier manufacturing visibility as a formal program objective with a 24-month delivery timeline; directing DLA to partner with AI-driven supplier discovery technology providers; establishing a continuously maintained national manufacturing data asset as critical national security infrastructure; and requiring modern digital technical data packages as a condition of contract completion on new defense production contracts.

Michael Morford
Knudsen Institute
+1 512-787-8717
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.