Potential for Integration of Commercial and Military Technologies

To achieve the benefits of CMI, advocates call for a relaxation of the regulatory restrictions that segregate weapon system acquisition from common commercial market practice and impose a regulatory cost premium on items purchased by the government. They base their arguments on two types of assumptions. First, they assume that an extensive “dual-use” overlap between commercial and military process and product technologies has created the potential for significant economies of scope and scale. Second, they assume that commercial business practices, together with the incentives and constraints provided by a commercial-like market structure, will spur the development of high-performing weapon systems at lower cost than can be achieved under the current heavily regulated military acquisition process.