Autonomous Government Funded Projects - 8 Part Series

Happy Sunday everyone! Welcome to the Autonomous Platforms of the Future Newsletter, designed to inform you about future game changing products, technologies, and platforms. This week I'll continue discussing the "Government Exploration" series and revealing some of the most exciting autonomous platforms in the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) industry.

The topic for today's release will focus on Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). I'm excited to get this series kicked off and let you all know everything that's going on from a government aspect for autonomous platforms.

The Government Exploration series will highlight the key plans, projects, platforms that each US Department of Defense agency is working on for advanced technology capabilities. I'll cover 8 of the most important agencies and provide you an inside scoop on future technology roll out plans and how they plan to leverage autonomous capabilities for the betterment of national security.

The agencies* I'll cover will be as follows:

• US Army

• US Navy

• US Air Force

• US Space Force

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

• Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

• Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA)

• Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)

*Those colored green have been covered in previous newsletter releases

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is the nation’s premiere combat logistics support agency that manages the end-to-end global defense supply chain – from raw materials to end user disposition.

DLA’s mission is to “deliver readiness and lethality to the Warfighter Always and support our nation through quality, proactive global logistics.” To accomplish this mission, DLA has a staff of about 25,000 employees divided into multiple supply chains that contract for material and services across the military classes of supply, to include: subsistence (food/water), clothing and textiles, bulk petroleum and other energy products, construction material and equipment, personal demand items, medical material and equipment, and repair parts for land, sea and air systems.

DLA Services offered:

• Federal and International Cataloging

• Packaging

• Kitting

• Demilitarization (DEMIL) Coding

• Storage

• Distribution

• Product Testing

• Industrial Plant Equipment

For more information on DLA, check out their website, https://www.dla.mil

DLA has established itself as a reliable and premiere agency in the industry for its strong reputation supporting the Warfighter. In the recently released Strategic Plan (2021-2026) for DLA, it outlined two major efforts that are focused on Autonomous technologies. Those area are:

• Modernize Acquisition and Supply Chain Management

• Future of Work

Modernize Acquisition and Supply Chain Management - In the rapidly evolving defense market, DLA will look to work closely with its industry partners to modernize and streamline its acquisition and end-to-end supply chain to increase readiness for challenges and maintain superiority for the Warfighter missions. At the heart of modernization is the introduction of more autonomous technology capabilities (RFID scanning tunnels, Factory robotics implementations, drone deliveries, etc.).

Future of Work - The workplace is increasingly virtual, reducing the need for a large physical footprint. Ongoing modernization efforts such as the use of mobile tablets, voice technology, autonomous guided vehicles and other advances to optimize warehouse operations all impact the future of work. DLA will continue adapting to these changes as it attracts and sustains a competitive workforce to drive increased productivity and employee satisfaction.

As the DLA embarks on a complete business transformation for the future, two critical capability objectives stand out that relate to Autonomous technology:

• Objective C1: Transformational information technology capabilities

• Objective C2: Advanced analytics and automation

The DLA is focusing its information technology and digital capability investments on key areas (aka Autonomous capabilities) that will enhance performance, reduce costs, and make more predictive and data-driven decisions. Their respective systems and processes will be transformed to improve transparency, reliability, and security for employees, customers, and suppliers.

Efficient and effective use of data continues to be the main driver for identifying new sources for Autonomous technology capabilities. However, warehouse management needs are demanding new cutting edge ways to deliver, maintain, develop, and manufacture the Warfighter products. New autonomous projects will be a key source in solving most of these challenges. From artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, machine learning, etc., these technology advancements have been trusted by government and industry partners more as the global landscape evolves for the next 10-20 years.

Some of the key Autonomous projects being developed for DLA are:

• Autonomous Fork Lifts

• RFID Scanning Tunnels

• Package Carrying Robots

• Autonomous vehicle delivers

The major takeaway this week is that Autonomous technologies capabilities have a wide variety of use cases in the Aerospace and Defense industry. As explained in today's newsletter, the emphasis on driving efficiency, performance and cost reduction within the DLA remains a high priority. Autonomous technologies remain at the forefront for solving a lot of these challenges that DLA faces currently and for the future.

While the importance of autonomous technologies seems to be growing by the day, the military and government applications of such platforms will be endless. My thought is that if you have a better way of doing business or developing products that can help streamline processes, then now would be a good time to make that widely known. The government and other industries are looking for forward thinkers to help transform the way business is done. If I were CEO of a new startup, my first priority would be to enhance the use of Autonomous technology and find those key industry partners to develop something game changing with robotics.

The Government Exploration series will continue next week with a discussion about the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and how Autonomous technologies are helping achieve their objectives.

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If you'd like to collaborate with me on future technology opportunities, use my calendly link to book a time. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend.