Tackling Integrated Logistics in a Contested Environment

As the U.S. military operates in an increasingly competitive multi-domain landscape, officials believe the nation and its international partners must prepare to fight and win in contested logistics environments.

During a panel discussion titled “The Importance of Logistics and Sustainment in Deterrence” at the Potomac Officers Club’s GovCon International Summit on Oct. 10, experts discussed ways in which the military can tackle a contested environment and how the Department of Defense, alongside allies, can maintain deterrence and readiness. 

Patrick Kelleher, deputy assistant secretary of defense for materiel readiness within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, said, “Contested logistics is what we think about every day and the challenges associated with overcoming contested logistics, and it’s integral to deterrence.”

“Deterrence posture generally equates to military capability, but what logistics gives you in deterrence is depth and the ability to maneuver, operate and maintain a tempo that your adversary can’t sustain,” Kelleher stated.

The Departments of State and Defense are developing international deterrence strategies for allies to face adversaries. Laura Cressey, director of the Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers within the U.S. Department of State, said partners value the U.S. contribution to global security cooperation.

“One of the main things we do with our Department of Defense colleagues is really help shape allied and partner contributions to deterrence strategies. As the State Department, one of the main things we can bring to bear as a tool of diplomacy is helping manage those very key relationships,” Cressey said. “I would say that a common theme that we hear from our partners around the world is that their partnership with the United States matters, the security cooperation partnership with the U.S. matters and they want to play a role. They want to live up to our expectations, and we want to make sure that we live up to their expectations.”

With these expectations, technological innovations are being integrated into modern logistics and sustainment activities to meet increased cyber-domain needs. 

Mark Eddings, senior vice president of the space market at LMI, said these new technological developments raise economic questions around the economic output of commercial industry and where companies are focusing their technology and investment dollars.

To answer these questions, Eddings provided three factors that could contribute to a significant return on investment in warfighting capabilities, including manufacturing a technology roadmap, advancements in how much capabilities need to weigh and changes in how the military transports capabilities from one place to another. 

Eddings spoke on recent investments in space transportation and how the industry could continue to grow. 

“You can get anywhere in the world from space in less than an hour, whether you start on Earth or you’re staged up in orbit. That was a crazy idea 10 to 20 years ago before we were doing reusable launch, but reusable launch has changed everything. And then in another ten years, maybe it makes more sense to put data centers up in space than on the ground,” Eddings said.

Kelleher continued to echo the influence of logistics on military operations and even cited integrated logistics as essential to operational readiness. 

“Once you get into conflict, logistics is readiness because logistics is your ability to maintain your warfighting platforms,” Kelleher emphasized.

“We are not going to be able to do what we need to do to fight and win by ourselves. Our ability to fight and win is going to be predicated on the degree to which we integrate our partners’ and allies’ capabilities and capacity regionally to offset the challenges that we have, particularly in INDO-PACOM, which are time and distance challenges,” Kelleher added.

You can learn more about the DOD’s top technology priorities and how they will be implemented in global security at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 23. Secure your spot at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit to gain access to insightful discussions with government and industry experts.