Abstract: The United States government needed more than money, a good strategy, and determination to wage the Cold War: it needed to invent the institutions that could sustain and coordinate the long-term enlistment of technology and industry for military purposes. The military structures that could command coordination when most in society were ready to accept military discipline and priorities were inadequate for managing the less than total mobilization that followed. This chapter describes the creation and institutionalization of a variety of special organizations and skills that allowed the military to manage effectively the design and development of complex weapons systems during the Cold War.

Keywords: Cold War, defence industry, coordination of innovation, complex weapons,