PHOENIX — The principal Pentagon advisor on all matters relating to the defense industrial base insisted Nov. 2 that the Defense Department is boosting his office’s role in the near future, and that the office will pursue a bolder, albeit nuanced, approach to several endemic issues.

In a keynote address to Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference here, Brett Lambert, director of industrial policy in the office of the deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition & technology, asserted there will be far more transparency, interaction and even targeted support for industry, but also much higher expectations.

Lambert, who took office this year, promised tailored, institutional support for maintaining necessary industrial skills, but also indicated less concern regarding major corporate profits or private sector employment.

“It has to go back to a more nuanced approach to the industry,” Lambert said. “We need to think about skills rather than jobs.”

The policy office will help promote platforms and systems that work in a joint, coalition environment, versus single-mission systems, and work toward making sure programs are designed with exportability built in — like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter instead of the F-22 Raptor. The office will support “larger, taller fences around fewer things” regarding export controls.

Industrial capacity to meet U.S. demands over the next five years will take priority over anything forecast for the subsequent 15 or 20 years. But the department nonetheless will actively preserve several technology bases, he said. Areas of interest include low-observable technology, vertical lift, unmanned systems and underwater capabilities. Solutions could range from bringing forward once-future work to maintain critical work force skills — as is being done with the replacement to the Ohio-class nuclear missile submarines — to storing production tools.

Regardless, the efforts will be crafted in partnership with their specific industries, Lambert declared. Yet the focus will be on second- and third-tier providers, with less concern for prime contractors.

He described the office’s newly infused role as one of a mediator for the Pentagon and industry, rather than as an advocate for businesses. He said the new emphasis entails “resetting the table,” referring to the so-called Last Supper in 1993, a meeting between DOD officials and business leaders that became infamous for setting off a wave of industrial consolidation. Lambert said that meeting succeeded at consolidating stock market symbols but did not do as much for defense capabilities.

Along those lines, Lambert echoed other defense officials recently and predicted more canceled programs next year. “I suspect you’ll see more,” he said. Last week when he signed the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill into law, President Barack Obama himself warned of more defense budget fights and his determination to win.

Lambert also declared that the office’s push for transparency and accountability will be driven down inward as well. He cited congressional auditors’ conclusions that the Defense Department’s top acquisition programs had fallen a total of almost two years behind schedule and $300 billion over budget. Lambert said the majority of acquisition problems could be traced to defense officials not doing a better job themselves. “This is not a one-way street,” he said.

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