{"id":12732,"date":"2026-06-18T08:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/defense-business-brief-tech-summit-recap-invoking-the-defense-production-act-and-indopacoms-name-change\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:25:20","slug":"defense-business-brief-tech-summit-recap-invoking-the-defense-production-act-and-indopacoms-name-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/defense-business-brief-tech-summit-recap-invoking-the-defense-production-act-and-indopacoms-name-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Business Brief: Tech Summit recap; Invoking the Defense Production Act; and INDOPACOM\u2019s name change"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Defense Production Act has entered the munitions chat even as concerns persist about weapons stockpiles spent in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not a sudden shift, it’s taken us nine months to make this work,\u201d Michael Cadenazzi, the Pentagon\u2019s industrial base policy chief, said during an event Tuesday at the Center for a New American Security on Tuesday. \u201cSo that was one of my first chores when I came into the Pentagon back in September was to launch something called a \u2018voluntary agreement,\u2019\u201d under the Defense Production Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cadenazzi\u2019s comments follow the White House\u2019s quiet invocation of the Defense Production Act. The DPA is up for reauthorization and expires Sept. 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pentagon currently has two such arrangements: the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, where the government can call on commercial airlines and aerospace manufacturers for national needs; and the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement for maritime vessels, which allows U.S. merchant vessels to participate in exchange for priority access to Defense Department cargoes during peacetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tool and this designation allows us\u2026to talk about different things like electronics, materials, ammonium perchlorate, rocket motors\u201d and bring competing companies in to discuss needs and challenges without worrying about \u201cantitrust rules,\u201d Cadenazzi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a way for us to communicate and leverage industry using a specific set of authorities. In this particular case, our interest is using voluntary agreements as a way to bring industry in\u2014in an antitrust environment\u2014to go ahead and have conversations with them, for us to articulate problems to them around nasty issues in the supply chain or the industrial base that allow them to communicate and work together, essentially collude, for want of a better term.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DPA authority could also create a steady demand signal, Cadenazzi said, noting voluntary agreements could also be used to include a myriad of defense suppliers, such as tire makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want these to be set up as an enduring capability, so expect to see more of these. I want to bring the tires people in to have conversations about tires,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s just the gritty underbelly of the industrial base, but I think they deserve a lot more attention, and this is one of the tools we want to bring to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve reached the Defense Business Brief, where we dig into what the Pentagon buys, who they\u2019re buying from, and why. Send along your tips, feedback, and cold-plunge soundtrack recommendations to lwilliams@defenseone.com<\/strong>. Check out the Defense Business Brief archive here<\/strong>, and tell your friends to subscribe<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

My D1 Tech Summit takeaway:<\/strong> The Office of Naval Research is working on a strategy to bring new tech to the fleet faster. The plan, which is in its final production stages, will spell out what the service wants and highlight key areas of scientific interest, like having one human controlling a swarm of drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n