This year marks a 70-year milestone for the War Department's Manufacturing Technology enterprise, which has been solving challenges beyond industry partners' investment capacity and risk tolerance for decades and has spawned separate service and agency specific programs.
The ManTech program was established in 1956 to solve manufacturing problems that were too costly for industry partners to take on, said Emil Michael, undersecretary of war for research and engineering, during a commemorative event at the Pentagon yesterday.
He added that investments in the enterprise have been the unseen force behind precision-guided munitions, stealth aircraft, combat vehicles, advanced microelectronics and other advances.
For instance, the Navy ManTech program is using robots to increase submarine construction, and the Army ManTech program is using the investment capital to build ballistic helmets for troops. Also, the Defense Logistics Agency ManTech program has restored domestic production capability for legacy defense microelectronics, thereby extending the life of critical weapon systems.
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As military systems become more complex, investments have evolved to tackle broader challenges in the defense industrial base, with a focus on workforce, public-private partnerships and collaboration, Michael said.
"We're moving fast to bring on new entrants, lowering the barriers for entry, so that agile startups, nontraditional defense contractors and commercial innovators can rapidly plug into our ecosystem," he said.
The department has been increasing the number of industry competitors, Michael pointed out.
"And it's working," he said. "There's been more defense tech investment dollars in new entrants than ever before."
The department is working on ways to help them succeed, so that it has a more robust, competitive ecosystem.
"We have processes. We have procedures. We have things that are not designed for small companies, for new entrants, for new innovators to succeed as easily as the big guys," Michael said, adding that it's incumbent upon the department to give those small companies and new innovators a helping hand to ensure they have a shot at working for the Pentagon.
One of the ManTech enterprise's primary vehicles to build at speed and scale is the Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which has more than 2,200 member organizations that have trained over 700,000 workers and students.
The department's ManTech program showcased cost-effective, innovative technologies during events at the Pentagon yesterday and today. Technologies included additive manufacturing, robotics, advanced materials for munitions, combat vehicle modernization, microelectronics and artificial intelligence.
The enterprise doesn't develop weapon systems — it develops the manufacturing capabilities needed to build them, through collaboration across the military services, War Department agencies, industry, academia and public-private partnerships.
Many of today's advanced defense systems, including stealth aircraft, submarines, advanced munitions, combat vehicles and radar systems benefited from ManTech enterprise manufacturing investments. A few of their other many advances include:
- The Air Force ManTech program lowered production costs for active electronically scanned array radar used aboard ships, aircraft and on the ground.
- The Army ManTech program introduced advanced armor materials and robotic welding to improve production speed, quality and worker safety. They also helped modernize cannon tube production, reducing production time by about 50%.
- The Navy ManTech program developed a ceramic coating that extends the service life of submarine seawater valves to match the operational life of the sub, saving more than $100 million in life-cycle costs.