Cathode manufacturing globalization and its effects on instability in the metals markets on cathode pricing

Members of a select group of cathode manufacturers and VED tube manufacturers were brought together under a Title III project with the mission of creating assured, affordable, commercially viable production capabilities and capacities for dispenser cathodes. At some point during one of the joint meetings Mr. Robert Johnson from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, a representative of the Department of Defense basically and rather eloquently re-stated the mission for the group. In simple terms, he stated, the Department of Defense would like to be in the enviable position of being able purchase as many systems as they possible could; however, the single caveat was that "We as a group, need to take into account that the Department of Defense had a fixed budget. In other words, if we could contain or reduce costs, or improve the longevity of systems, then more systems could and would be purchased in the future.