Defence Procurement And Industry Policy

In many countries, defense acquisitions comprise the largest component of all government procurement and in most, equipment acquisitions alone account for 25-30% of defense budget.
The products purchased vary from simple staple products (e.g., small arms munitions) to technologically sophisticated and complex systems (e.g., aircraft carriers and space telecommunications). Acquisition entails difficult choices to determine what to buy, who to buy from, and how to go about buying. For many defense producers, their home government is the major, and frequently the only, buyer of their output. Thus, government procurement policies can influence the size, structure, performance and profitability of domestic defense industry. In that sense, government defense procurement and industry polices tend to be strongly interrelated.
Despite the scale, complexity and importance of defense procurement, it remains a relatively under-researched area amongst economists, lawyers and social scientists. Most research has concentrated on the USA - this book looks at defense procurement from the point of view of smaller, but nevertheless significant countries - including Israel, Spain and Australia.