San Diego's military industry responds to increased competition for defense drone dollars – KPBS

San Diego’s military industry responds to increased competition for defense drone dollars  KPBS

A new report by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation shows San Diego tops the nation in Pentagon autonomous defense technology contracts. San Diego's defense contractors are working to ensure the Pentagon's renewed enthusiasm for spending on emerging weapons technology continues to benefit local companies, and now they have a plan make it happen. The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) announced the effort at a news conference Tuesday. The EDC released a report on San Diego's defense industry that includes recommendations — a "road map" — for initiatives to maximize the region's potential capacity. "As companies and as technologies mature, the speed with which they need to grow jobs and build factories is a moment that we're trying to meet as a region," said Nikia Clarke, the chief strategy officer of the EDC.

The issue, according to the EDC, is that even though San Diego has significant legacy military assets, other regions are starting to organize and coordinate their own marketing to attract defense manufacturers and contracts. The moment is one in which the Pentagon has made it clear to contractors it wants to spend money and bring new systems into service quickly. At the annual San Diego WEST defense conference in February, U.S. Department of Defense leaders told industry representatives the Pentagon had a fresh appetite