March 24, 2006 :: USA Today :: News
The Pentagon risks running out of scientists and engineers to operate and upgrade long-range missile technology, according to a report released this week by the Defense Science Board. A task force of five outside missile experts spent two years preparing the report. According to their results, approximately 20,000 research and development scientists and engineers work in the aerospace industry as a whole, down from over 140,000 in the mid-1980s. The decline reflects the fact that veteran engineers and scientists are retiring at a high rate, and fewer young engineers and scientists are choosing to work on missile technology. Each year about 70,000 Americans receive undergraduate and graduate science and engineering degrees that are defense related, compared to a combined 200,000 in China and India. The report recommends that the Pentagon pay higher salaries and offer incentives to attract more experts into the strategic missile field, or risk losing much of its expertise in long-range missile technology.
(Article)» Defense Science Board Report on Future Strategic Strike Skills
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