Advanced Manufacturing in a Contested Logistics Environment

With the wars in Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Somalia, and Syria, the ongoing conflicts in Israel, Lebanon, Nigeria, Colombia, Brazil, the Sudan, and the growing threats posed by Russia, North Korea, China, Iran, and others, has come an extreme Supernova of the world's raw material supply chain. Materials once readily attainable are now scarce. Suppliers are at capacity and unable to keep up with current demand let alone an expected surge in need if the US joins in on any of these conflicts. This has placed even greater strain on the already struggling metallic casting, forging, and extrusion availability. Add in the fact that the aerospace industry typically requires a greater level of inspection, quality, and dimensional stability, many of the casting, forging, and extrusion manufacturers have either decided to shut their doors and exit the business, or just drop the aerospace business to focus on automotive, rail, oil and natural gas, etc. industries that have constant high volume demands and generally less requirements. This global situation has produced a need for alternative sources of material as well as alternative manufacturing capabilities to meet current demands and keep our aircrafts flying, and our military with the equipment they so desperately need to defend our great nation.

This presentation will discuss the effects of these conflicts on US aerospace manufacturing, and what trends we should expect into the coming years as a result. We will discuss some of the various manufacturing alternative processes for critical need aerospace parts, what is being done to obtain alternate material sources to build back up the US stockpiles and to reduce or eliminate our dependence on Russia and China, and how this is ultimately supporting our warfighters at home and abroad.