Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment

#ICYMI: Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Christopher Lowman and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Product Support Lisa Smith recently briefed reporters on the Department's Regional Sustainment Framework, an initiative to develop a global network of regionally aligned maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities. The goal is to place sustainment capabilities close to where they are needed, ensuring damaged or non-mission capable equipment is repaired and returned to service more rapidly. DoD is working with five different Indo-Pacific nations on the #RSF effort, not only to bolster the U.S. joint force but to also enhance the capabilities of our regional partners. By strengthening these partnerships, we are creating a robust network that supports mutual defense and readiness. Learn more below! 🌏 #SustainTheForce #SucceedThroughTeamwork #MilitaryLogistics | Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment

Earlier this week, the United States Department of Defense announced five new awards totaling $9 million for the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program. The awards will expand the domestic supply of ingredients and materials for U.S. supply chains by building bioproduction infrastructure: https://lnkd.in/eX8ZYteg   "These awards further demonstrate action against the long-term strategic goals in the National Defense Industrial Strategy," said Dr. William LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. "Biomanufacturing is a great example of how the Department is using the Defense Industrial Base Consortium Other Transaction Agreement to enable faster execution of high priority efforts."   Awardees include ARCTOS Technology Solutions in Beavercreek, Ohio; CleanJoule in Salt Lake City; Lygos in Berkeley, California; Synonym in New York City; and Visolis, in Hayward, California. Through these agreements, the companies will receive funding to produce plans for constructing domestic bioindustrial manufacturing facilities under the DIBC OTA. Successful projects may receive follow-on awards up to $100 million. Learn more below!   #ExpandTheBase

USD(A&S) William LaPlante represented the United States Department of Defense at last week's Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom.   During both events, Dr. LaPlante engaged with companies across the full range of the defense industrial ecosystem, including small businesses, emerging tech developers, traditional prime contractors, and international partners. Additionally, he spent time with the U.S. congressional delegation led by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Jerry Moran, discussing a range of topics from acquisition and sustainment programs to the industrial base and support for Ukraine.   Dr. LaPlante also had the opportunity to meet with air crews from the US Army, US Navy, and United States Air Force, thanking them for the important role they play representing the nation at both airshows as well as hearing firsthand their experiences operating some of the most important and cutting-edge platforms in the U.S. fleet.   #SucceedThroughTeamwork #ExpandTheBase

#ICYMI: This weekend, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with their Japanese counterparts, Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa and Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara, in Tokyo to advance bilateral progress in building a global partnership for the future while enhancing U.S.-Japan Alliance deterrence. This includes further accelerating work on co-production, co-development, and co-sustainment to advance innovation, strengthen U.S. and Japanese industrial bases, promote resilient and reliable supply chains, and invest in the strategic industries of the future. The Ministers heralded the recent convening of the Forum on Defense Industry Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment (DICAS), as well as its working groups on missile co-production, ship repair, aircraft repair, and supply chain resilience. They also welcomed high-priority efforts to pursue mutually beneficial co-production opportunities to expand production capacity of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE), in order to meet critical demands for such advanced systems, address timely procurement and readiness requirements, and deter aggression. #SucceedThroughTeamwork

Last week, the United States Department of Defense announced the Fiscal Year 2023 Nunn-Perry Award winners, which recognize excellence in the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program. Established in 1990, the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program assists DoD prime contractors in meeting their Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) subcontracting goals. The program was made permanent in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, and this year, the Program also expanded with a pilot initiative to provide developmental assistance to protégés performing in DoD reimbursable agreements with funding for projects supporting the advancement of engineering, software development, or manufacturing customization in support of the Warfighter. The 2024 DoD Mentor-Protégé Summit kicks off tomorrow in Detroit, Michigan. Read more below! Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs #SucceedThroughTeamwork #SmallBiz #ExpandTheBase

#ICYMI: The US Navy and the State of Michigan formally launched the Michigan Maritime Manufacturing (M3) initiative earlier this week. Through this partnership, M3 will build skilled workforce pipelines and programs to help meet the Navy’s demand for over a hundred thousand new workers in the submarine and maritime industries over the next decade. “We are making investments to nurture and develop the skillsets that are vital to our national security—investments which will enable us to achieve the strategic priorities laid out in the National Defense Industrial Strategy,” said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. With investments exceeding $50 million, the M3 Initiative will provide tailored training programs in maritime manufacturing, connecting the next-generation workforce to the Navy’s mission and enhancing competitive advantage. 📄Read the White House Fact Sheet below, as well as the press release here: https://lnkd.in/gseGnFgJ #ExpandTheBase

The United States Department of Defense announced today a $23 million award via the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) program to Constellium Muscle Shoals LLC in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The award aims to increase capacity in annual aluminum casting production, secure capability to supply U.S. mills, and provide surge capacity to support U.S. security commitments around the globe. This effort supports the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy to continue and expand support for domestic production to increase supply chain resilience. “Aluminum castings are dispersed across many critical applications in defense – including flight critical structural components, rocket and space systems, and light-weight armor for ground vehicles,” said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD(IBP)). "This award will help address capability and capacity challenges that the U.S. aluminum casting industry faces as a result of an insufficient workforce and complex government policies.” Constellium Muscle Shoals will use the funds to add up to 300 million pounds of annual aluminum casting capacity. With this added capacity, the plant expects to increase its recycled input; reduce its use of primary metal; and provide the U.S. industrial base an additional, self-reliant, domestic source of supply for aluminum rolling ingots. Constellium Muscle Shoals is also a major aluminum sheet supplier for the packaging and automotive markets. #ExpandTheBase

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to expand CFIUS jurisdiction over certain real estate transactions involving foreign persons. This proposal adds more than 50 military installations across 30 states, reinforcing our commitment to national security. We commend the exceptional work of DoD’s Global Investment and Economic Security team and all interagency stakeholders in updating the #CFIUS regulations.   To submit a formal comment, visit:  https://lnkd.in/efcYwjYP   Read the press release below.  ⬇️

OASD(IBP)’s Defense Business Accelerator (DBX) program is focused on helping companies access private capital and leverage commercial market forces to scale defense-relevant technologies and rapidly expand the domestic industrial base. This past November, DBX awarded a total of $9.6 million to an initial cohort of seven companies developing critical microelectronics technologies.   In addition to securing private capital, DBX is working with program offices across the Military Services to apply DBX-generated technologies to DoD problem sets. Participants have already credited DBX with helping boost their visibility and standing within the Defense market, leading to several new contract awards directly from DoD as well as through Defense contractors. DBX awardees recently reported receiving $46.6 million in additional private capital, due in large part to the initial $9.6 million award.   “The Defense Business Accelerator is a great example of how we are harnessing market forces to accelerate the growth of a resilient defense industrial ecosystem,” said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. “This program is already demonstrating the value of its approach to scaling production of defense-relevant technologies.”   The DBX program, part of the OASD(IBP)’s Manufacturing Capability Expansion & Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) portfolio, positions DoD as a leader in dual-use technology development and accelerates the growth of a robust dual-use industrial ecosystem.   #SucceedThroughTeamwork #ExpandTheBase #IBP #DBX #MCEIP