The Department of Defense (DoD) has unveiled the 2024 Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) Enterprise Strategy, replacing the previous strategy from 2020. This new strategy is designed to enable the total force to perform its missions amidst advanced chemical and biological threats.
Guided by the 2022 National Defense Strategy, the new CBDP Enterprise Strategy emphasizes delivering operationally relevant chemical and biological defense capabilities swiftly and on a large scale. The aim is to maintain and enhance U.S. deterrence against challenges posed by China and Russia. It also aligns with other strategic directives such as the 2023 Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, the inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy, and the Biodefense Posture Review. Additionally, it calls for stronger integration of CBD capabilities with international allies and partners.
"Strategic competition and rapid technological changes are making chemical and biological threats harder to defend against and increasingly attractive to adversaries," stated Ian Watson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for chemical and biological defense. "This strategy creates the urgency and change necessary to continue to outpace our adversaries and the threat."
The CBDP focuses on developing chemical and biological defense material capabilities across all Military Services. The DoD is placing greater emphasis on modernizing these defenses to ensure that the Joint Force can execute its missions effectively in face of such threats.
To achieve this goal, the strategy outlines four key approaches:
1. Generating material solutions that expand decision-making space, minimize initial operational impact, and quickly restore combat power.
2. Pursuing technical enablers and innovative methods that expedite capability delivery at required scales.
3. Structuring the Chemical and Biological Defense Program around providing operationally relevant capabilities rapidly.
4. Leveraging partnerships with interagency entities, international allies, industry, and academia.
The full strategy document is available on the DoD website.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (OASD(NCB)) spearheads efforts to ensure a safe U.S. nuclear deterrent amid growing global power competition. Recognizing increasing threats against U.S., allied interests that are becoming more complex to address, OASD(NCB) leads initiatives in sustaining nuclear deterrence through modernization efforts across various dimensions including operations, administration, response speed, and production processes.
