As the current U.S. defense budget drawdown has progressed, numerous analysts have expressed concern about the ability of the United States to retain technological superiority, particularly given how research and development (R&D) contracting appears to be in serious decline. To examine what has happened within the federal R&D contracting portfolio, CSIS has analyzed trends in federal contracting. Using federal contract data from the publicly available Federal Procurement Data System, this study explains what has happened to federal R&D contracting and the industrial base that supports it.

Jesse Ellman is an associate fellow, and Kaitlyn Johnson a researcher, with the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at CSIS.