In its quest to transform, the Army is pledging to be a better customer as it looks to industry for the latest technology and equipment.
Advanced manufacturing fills supply chain gaps and enables Army readiness, the commanding general of Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command said.
The Army must prioritize modernization of the industrial base and integration of allies and partners as it works to more quickly deliver capabilities and maintenance to the front lines, a senior officer said.
Registration is open for an Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic on industrial base readiness.
Scheduled for Jan. 15 at AUSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, the theme for the daylong Hot Topic is “Connecting the Industrial Base to the Tactical Edge.”
Recent global conflict again has shown that the ability to sustain the warfighter with firepower is critical to the U.S.
When it comes to manufacturing, the biggest challenge facing the Army is the service’s approach to it, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said.
“It’s a process change, that’s what we’ve got to get after,” George said Dec. 7 during a panel discussion at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. “I think that’s the biggest challenge we have.”
The Army talks a lot about speeding up the acquisitions process, but Army Contracting Command has a new, concrete goal: No more than six months to award a contract, executive director Danielle Moyer said Oct. 16 at the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition.
The days when it took two years to make an award decision are over, she said.
Last year, a small cadre of Army maintenance specialists was dispatched from the service's depot in Corpus Christi, Texas, to perform a complex repair on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter based in South Korea. The work took 13 days, rather than the 220 estimated to ship it back to the U.S. for repairs. The savings: An estimated $2 million.
Facing global challenges, the Army is investing in technology and its industrial base to meet production and manufacturing capacity needs, the assistant Army secretary of acquisition, logistics and technology said.
The Army’s dialogue with industry is “incredibly important” to building the Army of the future, said Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich, deputy Army chief of staff for programs and resources, G-8.
Pointing out that industry leaders are on the leading edge of developing the equipment and technology that will keep soldiers “safe and lethal on the battlefield,” Gingrich acknowledged that getting through to the right people requires tenacity.
