Pentagon Eyes Defense Production Act to Enable Legal 'Collusion' on Supply Chain Issues
Michael Cadenazzi, the Pentagon's Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy, says the Department of Defense plans to use voluntary agreements under the Defense Production Act to allow defense industry competitors to share sensitive information and coordinate on supply chain challenges—without violating antitrust law. The move aims to address structural vulnerabilities in the U.S. defense industrial base, including over-reliance on single sources and capacity bottlenecks in drones and advanced weapons systems.
Highlights
- Assistant Secretary Michael Cadenazzi announced the Pentagon will use Defense Production Act voluntary agreements to allow defense competitors to legally coordinate on supply chain issues.
- The DPA mechanism provides a national security exemption to Sherman Antitrust Act restrictions, enabling competitor collaboration that would otherwise be illegal.
- The initiative targets structural vulnerabilities in the U.S. defense industrial base, including single-source dependence and capacity bottlenecks in drones and advanced weapons systems.
- The DoD will act as an intermediary under the DPA framework, guiding industry players to jointly address supply chain disruptions, rare material shortages, and production capacity gaps.
- The move reflects the Pentagon's broader push to develop flexible industrial policy tools that balance market competition with defense supply chain resilience amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Pentagon Eyes Defense Production Act to Enable Legal 'Collusion' on Supply Chain Issues
Michael Cadenazzi, the U.S. Department of Defense's Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy, has announced that the Pentagon is actively exploring the use of voluntary agreement mechanisms authorized under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to help defense industry players communicate and collaborate on sensitive supply chain issues—without running afoul of antitrust regulations.
"Our intent is to use voluntary agreements… so that we can lay out for industry the hard problems in the supply chain and the industrial base, and then allow them to talk to each other and work together—essentially legally collude," Cadenazzi stated.
The Legal Barrier to Supply Chain Collaboration
Under normal commercial circumstances, competitors who exchange sensitive business information or coordinate production strategies risk violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. However, the Defense Production Act grants the DoD specific authority to facilitate cooperation among industry players that goes beyond ordinary competitive boundaries, all within a national security framework.
This approach is designed to address long-standing structural problems in the U.S. defense industrial base—including the concentration of critical component supply, excessive dependence on single sources, and capacity bottlenecks in strategically important product areas such as drones and advanced weapons systems.
Strategic Rationale for Strengthening Defense Industrial Resilience
As geopolitical tensions continue to rise, the DoD has been seeking ways to accelerate the expansion of domestic defense industrial capacity. Through the DPA's voluntary agreement mechanism, the department can act as an intermediary, legally guiding competing firms to jointly address risks such as supply chain disruption, shortages of rare materials, and insufficient production capacity.
Cadenazzi's remarks signal that the Pentagon is actively exploring more flexible industrial policy tools—aiming to maintain market competition while ensuring the stability and resilience of the defense supply chain.
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