The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit is standing up a new program to evaluate and approve advanced manufacturing companies that can bolster the defense industrial base’s ability to rapidly produce new systems.
The effort — dubbed Blue Manufacturing — will seek to establish and maintain a roster of pre-approved commercial manufacturing facilities that meet the department’s standards for producing military capabilities, DIU Director Doug Beck said Thursday at NDIA’s Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition.
“There’s this amazing advanced manufacturing capability that’s happening — everything from digital engineering to additive manufacturing and 3D printing and everything in between,” he said. “What we’re doing now is essentially creating a program that pre-vets for quality, security [and] adversarial capital — so we can make that introduction and actually build the bridge to help both sides to scale.”
Beck noted many commercial companies — particularly smaller businesses — often struggle to meet the Defense Department’s demands for producing capabilities at scale. But having a roster of manufacturing facilities equipped with advanced technologies that those companies can turn to should help mitigate some of those challenges.
“These guys need these guys to scale, and these guys … can help us scale with those guys,” he said. “Doing that will help us really build the defense industrial base in a new way and do it right now.”
The new program is modeled after DIU’s Blue UAS effort, he noted. Started in 2020, Blue UAS sought to pre-approve a roster of commercial unmanned aerial systems that can be purchased by Pentagon components. The innovation hub also has a Blue UAS Framework that includes additional drone subcomponents.
Drones added to the program’s cleared list do not require a Defense Department exception to policy to be purchased, because they have already undergone necessary cyber-security evaluations, had a National Defense Authorization Act compliance check, and issued administrative documentation, according to DIU.
“We’re revamping [Blue UAS] so that we can accelerate it, expand it and bring the cost of using it down,” Beck said.
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