Parts of the Army’s organic industrial base (OIB) would be better used for scaling production of drones and their parts than some of the things currently being produced, the service’s top officer said last week.
Some of what is being produced by the OIB “we don’t need for the modern battlefield,” Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on June 18. “One of the areas that we have talked about as an example is being able to produce drones, and being able to do that at scale, and produce drone parts.”
Later in the hearing, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) highlighted Ukraine’s recent successful attack using small drones against parked Russian strategic bombers and asked what the Army is doing to field unmanned systems. Referencing the OIB, George replied, “that’s a perfect example of an area where I think we need to produce,” highlighting that there is little domestic production of these systems.
George also said the Army continues to focus on the OIB as a source of increasing its “magazine capacity” around missiles and munitions. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll agreed, saying these the organic and private sector are important here.
George and Driscoll during a budget hearing were challenged by senators over potential temporary shutdowns of some Army plants involved in ammunition and munitions production. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), chairman of the subcommittee, said he is “confused” about reports that the Army may mothball depots such as the Blue Grass depot in Kentucky, Pine Bluff in Arkansas, Anniston in Alabama, and Red River in Texas.
“If so, how is this consistent with the stated objective of sustaining and modernizing them?” McConnell asked.
Driscoll said that the Army Transformation Initiative is meant in part to get after the issue of mass producing drones, including with the help of small and medium-sized businesses that have their own solutions. Buying drones in tranches, and based on a modular open systems architecture to enable adaptations and upgrades, is what the service is working toward, George said.
A “diversity of solutions” rather than a program of record is the way to go, Driscoll said.
The supply chain for small drones is important as well, and the U.S. has to be producing brushless motors, flight controllers, wiring harnesses, and antennas, George said.
George also mentioned munitions and said the Army will discuss its plans for the OIB with the committee.
Driscoll said the Army’s message around the OIB is not “that those depots don’t have a role in the future, but the current things being manufactured there are duplicative and expensive.” The Army is developing a “plan to actually take advantage of the resources that we have and be good custodians of the American taxpayer’s dollars,” he said.
The Army’s review of its OIB needs is part of the services transformation initiative that includes eliminations and cuts to some existing programs while emphasizing other areas such as drones, counter-drone systems, electronic warfare, and new programs like the MV-75 Future Long Range Assault Aircraft tiltrotor.