The Pentagon is stepping up efforts to sustain and preserve the health of the U.S. industrial base in the event  sequestration continues into 2014 by assessing vendor capabilities, watching for mergers and acquisitions, and analyzing the supply chain as it relates to producing critical capabilities.

Fewer acquisition dollars available in fiscal year 2014 and beyond could translate into a situation where vendors building key components and technologies for the Department of Defense might not have the ability to sustain operations.

“We are now entering the second year where we are likely to face sequestration. The health of the industrial base is a question that is near and dear to the department’s leadership interests,” said Elana Broitman, acting deputy assistant Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, told Military​.com in an interview.

Broitman explained that the Pentagon’s policy office is focused on looking at vendors’ production capacity as well as the need to preserve or maintain a highly skilled, technical competent workforce.

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