Maj. Gen. Lori Robinson, commander of the Aviation and Missile Command, was the keynote speaker at the Army Aviation Association of America Cribbins Readiness Conference held Nov. 11-13 in Huntsville.
The annual event supports the entire Army aviation enterprise, attracting aviators, maintainers, logisticians, project managers and other key decision-makers from both the Army and industry. In addition to panel discussions, attendees toured the showroom floor to speak with vendors and view upcoming technologies and capabilities.
Robinson kicked off the event early Veterans Day morning with her thoughts on the conference’s theme: “Transitioning to Next Gen Warfare, Leveraging AI and Lethal Capabilities.”
She said that while the foundational cornerstones of aviation maintenance and sustainment will continue to endure, we cannot stop there.
“We have to look at how we use technology to do things better, smarter, more efficiently and more affordably across our hangars and flight lines around the world,” she said.
Robinson said the conference topics provided a sense of where Army aviation is moving to stay relevant in the future fight. Some of those topics included sustainment in the future fight, lowering sustainment costs through technology and how the digital ecosystem is changing sustainment.
She said many new technologies are not far off in the future; rather, they are here today, and it is critical to discuss advanced manufacturing and autonomous resupply while simultaneously discussing current operations and supply chain management.
She told the audience, which included active-duty military personnel and industry partners, that “As you hear from all of our requirement developers, our program managers and the (Future Vertical Lift) team throughout the next couple of days, you’re going to hear a similar refrain about how we have to iteratively keep pace with technology and really with the threat, which evolves quickly around us.”
Robinson said the Army aviation enterprise is not focused on one or two of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George’s priorities. It is focused on all of them: warfighting, ready combat formations, continuous transformation and strengthening the profession. She said the world is a complex environment, and she can see Army aviation in action at any time.
“I’m confident we feel the same sense of urgency as the chief of staff of the Army to make our forces ready for whatever our nation asks us to do, and we don’t know when that will be,” she said.
Robinson touched on interoperability with allies and partner nations, which she described as a critical component. In large-scale combat operations, a globally connected sustainment network with maintenance and repair capability both at home and abroad will be necessary.
“We have to strive to be interoperable with the aircrews that we will fly and fight with around the world,” she said. “It is important that we talk about the interoperability of our sustainment systems in a regional sustainment framework because that will maximize our capabilities in both the United States of America and throughout our partner nations around the world.”
As for technology, such as advanced manufacturing, Robinson said while AMCOM is not currently 3D printing transmissions, it is essential to consider how these technologies can be applied inside the Army’s formations now and in the future. When discussing maintaining and sustaining those new technologies, Robinson talked about the two AMCOM depots, Corpus Christi Army Depot in Texas and Letterkenny Army Depot in Pennsylvania, as well as the other 21 depots, arsenals and ammunition points. She described them as the continuity and the surge capacity for our nation.
The Army is investing $18 billion over 15 years to repair, upgrade and modernize the organic industrial base. Corpus Christi is receiving a large portion of that to build a seven-phase, multipurpose aviation repair facility.
“The OIB is a driver for capacity, and we need to keep pace to ensure they have the best modernization efforts so that as we introduce new platforms and technologies, they will be ready to help repair them,” she said.
To the industry partners, Robinson said none of this happens without their help.
“I know you work hard every day to meet the requirements of our Army and our nation. Your innovation to meet urgent needs is unmatched around the world, and we appreciate it. Of course, we always want more; we want it better, faster and cheaper, but we do truly appreciate the partnership and the continued discussions so that we can move forward with what Army aviation needs to be relevant on future battlefields.”
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