Evolving Threats Challenge Sustainment, Industrial Base

Evolving Threats Challenge Sustainment, Industrial Base

Vic Ramdass, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, speaks at an AUSA event
Photo by: AUSA/Luc Dunn

Asserting that the nation is “at a critical junction in national security,” a senior DoD official said that the defense industrial base is the “engine of strategic innovation.”

Speaking Jan. 15 at an Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic titled “Connecting the Industrial Base to the Tactical Edge,” Vic Ramdass, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, said that industry and the sustainment enterprise must work with DoD to make a difference.

“The defense industrial base is not just an enabler for operational readiness, it is the engine of strategic innovation,” Ramdass said as he challenged members of industry and the industrial base to think about how “we can productively and optimally develop and maintain production lines to mitigate exposure to supply disruptions and changing production requirements and long lead times.”

As part of that strategic thinking, Ramdass acknowledged that the Army works effectively with communities, high schools and community colleges to bring people into the force. But he cautioned that “we need to think broadly as a nation” to establish a cohort or a cadre of sorts that DoD and industry can leverage.

“Because guess what? Those military technicians that are working today in the organic industrial base are going to put on a uniform and be deployed, and you’re going to have to backstop, you’re going to have to pull to leverage your bench,” he said. “How are you going to do that? We need to really start to think that through.”

Ramdass said that the Army should think about three things—the tyranny of distance, strategic logistics and the power of partnerships.

Invoking the vast distances in the Indo-Pacific, Ramdass noted that operational theaters are separated by thousands of miles of ocean, which is a strategic vulnerability when it comes to moving people and materiel. “The challenge is not new but has grown in light of recent conflicts such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said, adding that “traditional supply chain models are insufficient to address challenges that we face today.”

He urged planners to “recalibrate your assumptions about mobilization, operational reach and protraction.”

“The lessons we are learning in Ukraine show that our assumptions based on uncontested logistics are flawed. It also highlights that our assumption on consumption is also flawed,” Ramdass said, using as an example the fact that Ukraine fires about 8,000 155 mm rounds a day. “Check your assumptions.”

Part of strategic logistics means moving away from adversarial sources of supplies, which should include deeper analysis of cybersecurity requirements with sub-tier suppliers. “We are entering an era where wars will be influenced as much by cognitive and data superiority as by the physical force,” he said.

Finally, Ramdass said, international industry partners are critical to strengthening the industrial base and addressing shared security challenges.

“We need to embrace not only that we can do this, but we must do this, recognizing that we cannot do it alone, we will need our partners,” he said. “We’ll be better for collaborating with one another and sharing our unique perspectives.”