BACKGROUNDER
No. 3804 | JANUARY 10, 2024
DOUGLAS AND SARAH ALLISON CENTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
This paper, in its entirety, can be found at https://report.heritage.org/bg3804
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Prioritizing Procurement over
Research and Development
Wilson Beaver, Robert Peters, John Venable, and James Di Pane
The Defense Department is spending $34
billion more on research and development
and $18 billion more to procure new air-
craft and ships than it was two years ago.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Given the possibility of major conflict in
the Indo-Pacific this decade, policymakers
should not prioritize technology that will
not be available until the 2030s.
In 2024, lawmakers looking in the budget
to fund the defense articles needed to
deter China in the Indo-Pacific should look
for money in the RDT&E accounts.
I
magine that the Ford Motor Company spent
almost as much on research and development
as it does on building cars. That would not be a
workable model: Showroom floors would stand half
empty, shareholders would lose money, Americans
would not be able to buy cars, the company would go
out of business, and competitors would quickly take
up its market share. People would find it preposterous
that Ford was investing more in paying the salaries of
scientists to develop a car that could not be sold for
another decade than it was in building the F-150s and
Mustangs of today. For reference, Ford spent $7.8 bil-
lion in 2022 on research and development
1
compared
to $90 billion to procure parts for production.
2
In fiscal year (FY) 2023, the U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD) was authorized to spend $140 billion
for research, development, testing, and evaluation
