GUEST BLOG: New year predictions for the ability of defense organizations to sustain mission readiness
BlogMarch 10, 2026
Chris Morton
IFS North America
Defense logistics need a strategic upgrade – from localized 3D printing on the front line to counter-drone defense and expanding defense manufacturing to integrating artificial intelligence (AI) beyond the battlefield.
Today’s defense climate is ever-changing and unpredictable. But a new year brings new changes for defense organizations to adapt to – whether it is localizing asset production on the front line with 3D printing, navigating the drone threat landscape, or even the integration of industrial artificial intelligence (AI) and the collaboration of commercial manufacturers helping arm forces for conflict. There are plenty of defense logistics developments that the industry needs to brace for to succeed in 2026.
Prediction 1: Agile manufacturing operations with 3D printing at the heart of the front line
Recently, the U.S. Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, spoke on the Army’s ability to manufacture better than the vendor. He used the example of UH-60 Black Hawk’s external fuel tank and a tiny Black Hawk screen-control knob, saying: “The parts could be 3D-printed at higher quality for about $3,000 and $60 respectively, but cost $14,000 and $47,000 for full assembly replacements from the manufacturer.”
3D printing technology – enabled by advances in digital engineering – is pushing the production line closer to the front line. Already, as part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) FY2026 budget, $3.3 billion has been allocated to additive-manufacturing projects. By pushing the production of replacement parts closer to the point of use, military forces can reduce susceptibility to lengthy supply lines, repair equipment faster, and build resilience into global supply chains. This capability is especially critical for theatres of conflict burdened by a lack of transportation infrastructure or extreme distances.
In another example, the U.S. Navy printed a replacement pump for one of its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, reducing the time to produce the part by 80% – a significant improvement over traditional casting processes. An additional point: it was printed in Spain, enabling the ship to continue its future deployment, rather than sitting at port waiting for a replacement.
These early adopters of expeditionary printing have been the services themselves, but the defense industrial base (DIB) has taken notice of the speed, innovation, and resilience this move brings to military forces. Undoubtedly, expeditionary manufacturing for repair and sustainment will spread and become a staple of the global industrial base.
None of this happens, however, without the digital thread – crucial for the transfer of design files to remote 3D printing locations. The importance of digital engineering has already been recognized by the Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 5000.97, which mandates that all defense capabilities are set up for digital engineering.
Prediction 2: Drone warfare requires a new arsenal to combat them
The last two years have seen an explosion of autonomous and first-person view (FPV) drones proliferating on the battlefield. Relatively low-cost solutions have proven capable of delivering disproportionate effects, making this tech du jour a weapon of choice in Ukraine. The defense industry and governments alike have taken notice. The booming drone gold rush is exacerbated by the concept that drones are “bullets, not planes,” meaning that small, cheap drone swarms have become a real threat to large, heavy-duty assets.
With the backdrop of the relative effectiveness of drone warfare, the attention of the defense industry and governments is turning to counter-drone tech. For fiscal year 2026, the U.S. DoD budget requested more than $3 billion just for counter-drone capabilities alone. These capabilities come in the form of small handheld systems such as the DroneGun Mk4, built for rapid response to neutralize individual targets; or large vehicle-mounted RF directed-energy weapons currently in testing by the British military.
As military forces experiment with multiple applications to respond to the emergence of autonomous drones, the defense industry is innovating in parallel to develop a capability that meets a new set of emerging diverse requirements. The winners will need to scale quickly to deliver tech that was essentially non-existent a mere five years ago.
Prediction 3: Collaboration of commercial and defense manufacturing: The best of both worlds
Ukraine’s artillery consumption outstripped NATO’s production capacity within months. For decades, military planners assumed that stockpiles and well-developed supply lines could sufficiently resupply military forces in conflict long enough for the industrial base to ramp up production for whatever was needed. Regional conflict in Eastern Europe proved this assumption to be breathtakingly wrong. It wasn’t just that the DIB was unable to respond to demand in the field – but any belief that stockpiles provided a modicum of deterrence vanished.
Relying on larger stockpiles isn’t the answer. The kill chain must be extended from the front line all the way back to the factory floor. But the DIB can’t afford to simply maintain idle production lines in factories waiting for conflict. In 2026, we will see increased reindustrialization of the manufacturing base, with defense manufacturers commercializing and commercial manufacturers adding defense manufacturing capabilities. This move will enable defense capacity to rapidly scale up in times of conflict. Commercial companies have noticed the opportunity, positioning themselves as viable options for defense contracts should the need arise.
But it’s not as simple as flipping a switch and making jet engines. Defense manufacturing requires extremely diverse types of manufacturing. Mixed-mode capabilities enable manufacturers to produce both high-volume, standard components as well as custom, low-value items needed for defense applications within a single supply chain. Leveraging a business system that enables project, discrete, and process manufacturing in one environment is critical to build diversity and resilience into production.
As the U.K. finance minister Rachel Reeves said during 2025 about investment into the DIB: “This additional investment is not just about increasing our national security but increasing our economic security, too.”
Prediction 4: The integration of industrial AI from base to inspection bay
In 1962, American sociologist Everett Rogers argued that technology doesn’t spread in a straight line, but rather in waves. Early adoption of AI on modern battlefields due to an existential threat quickly validated its value. Target recognition, analysis of volumes of intelligence, and decision-support schema have been employed successfully and, in many cases, at scale. In a devastating strike against the strategic Russian bomber fleet dubbed Operation Spiderweb in mid-2025, Ukraine employed AI to find, target, and strike 41 aircraft.
The second wave of AI in defense is upon us and will not take place at the front; it will take place in shipyards, hangars, and maintenance bays. As military commanders begin to trust AI as a technology, they will demand its application elsewhere – and there are few areas as ready for adoption as in maintenance and sustainment. Fleet and field commanders don’t want to spend their time thinking about whether their assets will be ready – they simply want them fully mission-capable to employ at a time and place of their choosing.
While some programs have leveraged AI behind the scenes for years, such as the U.S. Air Force’s Conditions-Based Maintenance Plus Program Office, battlefield successes will accelerate the second wave. For decades, large assets such as ships and aircraft have been placed on complex schedules to be taken out of service to inspect time-interval-dependent components, or to replace parts to stave off unplanned downtime. AI completely upends this system by employing predictive algorithms that will predict failure, recommend maintenance, and optimize downtime.
While conflict remains prevalent, the defense industry will need to adapt and prepare to equip military organizations to respond at a moment’s notice. In 2026, this means ripping up the rule book, in such situations as expeditionary printing on the front line to reduce supply-chain threats, autonomous first-person drones meeting their match, commercial participation in defense manufacturing, and AI spreading from the battlefield to the maintenance hangar.
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