Govini Report Warns U.S. Defense Supply Chains Lag Behind Rivals

Govini, a technology company specializing in streamlining the Defense Acquisition Process, has released its 2025 National Security Scorecard, revealing serious shortfalls in America’s defense readiness and industrial capabilities. Despite record-high defense budgets, the report concludes the United States is unprepared for the demands of sustained, high-intensity conflict against major competitors like China and Russia.

“U.S. defense spending is at record levels, but we still can’t deliver what the warfighter needs at the speed required,” said Tara Murphy Dougherty, Chief Executive Officer of Govini. She emphasized that the findings should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers and defense leaders who have assumed funding alone would solve systemic problems.

The Scorecard, now in its twelfth year, delivers a data-driven assessment of the United States Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and the supply chains that underpin it. Drawing on five fiscal years of contract records, supplier information, patent filings, and sourcing data for critical minerals, the report highlights three main areas of concern.

First, the U.S. lacks surge capacity. While China has spent thirty years modernizing its military production and Russia has demonstrated its ability to ramp up wartime manufacturing, America’s defense industry remains fragmented and too slow to scale up. This inflexibility raises doubts about whether the U.S. could sustain conflict across multiple theaters without exhausting vital resources.

Second, there is no real-time connection between frontline military demands and the factories that build equipment and munitions. When troops need urgent spare parts or precision weapons resupply, there is no fully integrated system to match operational requirements with production lines. This gap creates delays that could prove costly in prolonged engagements.

Third, supply chains remain opaque and vulnerable. Many essential components in U.S. weapons systems are sourced from foreign and sometimes adversarial countries. The Scorecard warns that this dependence poses a significant strategic risk, especially if geopolitical tensions disrupt access to materials and technologies.

Govini’s analysis spans nine mission areas: Aviation, Maritime, Ground, Space, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence (C4I), Missiles and munitions, Missile Defense, Nuclear, and Mission Support. Each area faces unique obstacles, but all share the same underlying problem: a lack of speed, transparency, and resilience in industrial processes.

The company’s flagship product, Ark, leverages artificial intelligence to integrate government and commercial data, enabling defense agencies to track, plan, and manage acquisitions better. Govini argues that digital modernization and better data integration are essential to transforming defense procurement into a strategic advantage.

With great power competition intensifying, the Scorecard underscores the urgency of addressing these structural deficiencies. Without significant reforms, the United States risks falling behind in its ability to deter or prevail in future conflicts.