Lessons from the North : Canada's privatization of military ammunition production

The goal of this report was the applicability of lessons learned from the privatization of Canada's ammunition manufacturing to the U.S. ammunition industrial base. While not an exact analog of the privatization possibilities open to the U.S. Department of Defense, the privatization of Canada's ammunition industry does offer important insights about the factors of a successful privatization. The applicability of lessons learned from the privatization of Canada's ammunition manufacturing to the U.S. ammunition industrial base was the goal of this study. While not an exact analog of the privatization possibilities open to the U.S. Department of Defense, the privatization of Canada's ammunition industry does offer important insights about the factors of a successful privatization. Specifically, it seems clear that the private sector in both nations can and will respond to demand for government ammunition. The Canadian example shows that a privatized industry will maintain an industrial capability when required and resourced by the government--but not without oversight. The companion report is W. Michael Hix, Ellen M. Pint, John Bondanella, Bruce Held, Michael Hynes, David Johnson, Art Pregler, Mike Stollenwerk, and Jerry Sollinger, Rethinking Governance of the Army's Arsenals and Ammunition Plants, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND, MR-1651-A, 2003, www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1651 Preliminaries......Page 1 Preface......Page 5 Contents......Page 9 Summary......Page 17 1. Introduction......Page 35 2. Defense-Related Ammunition Manufacturing in Canada Today......Page 43 3. Creation and Transformation of the Canadian Ammunition Industrial Base......Page 59 4. Military, Economic, and Political Context of Ammunition Manufacuring in the United States and Canada......Page 87 5. Summary of Insights Gained from Study of the Canadian Experience......Page 97 APPENDIX......Page 107 Bibliography......Page 127 W. Michael Hix, Bruce Held, Ellen M. Pint. Prepared For The Office Of The Secretary Of Defense. This Report Is A Companion To Rethinking Governance Of The Army's Arsenals And Ammunition Plants.--preface. Mg-169-osd--p. [4] Of Cover. Includes Bibliographical References. This report documents a case study of an important segment of Canada's defense industrial base: ammunition manufacturing.