DoD doles out $30M in Grants to Boost Defense Innovation

These six manufacturing initiatives received money through Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) grants.

Supply chain issues for complex forgings, such as the double-V hull used on the Stryker family of vehicles, is one area the DoD is looking to expand capabilities and its network of innovative suppliers. (Image: U.S. Army)

Approximately $30 million from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. The DMCSP makes long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, research and development, and small business support to strengthen the national security innovation base.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy has designated six consortia as Defense Manufacturing Communities and instructed the OLDCC to invite them to submit grant applications. The awards come from Fiscal Year 2023 appropriated funding and leverage an additional $10,934,491 in non-Federal funds for a total investment of $40.7 million.

“Delivering capabilities to our warfighters at scale depends on a resilient and robust manufacturing base,” said William LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. “This year’s awards will strengthen advanced manufacturing capabilities in defense-critical sectors while cultivating our most important resource: our people.”

Grant recipients include:

• $4,997,965 went to the Michigan Defense Resiliency Consortium to undertake a $6.3-million project to create the critical foundation for energy storage and battery manufacturing to support rapid transformation from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles and providing a series of technical assistance, technology acceleration, and workforce training initiatives.
• $4,999,950 was given to the Missouri Defense Manufacturing Community Consortium for a $7.8-million project to create a pipeline of engineers and tradespeople skilled in the usage of modern digital advanced manufacturing technologies in the priority area of castings and forgings.  
• The New York Consortium for Space Technology Innovation and Development received $5 million to begin a $6.8-million project to develop advanced defense space technology manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities by fostering collaboration among universities, research institutions, industry experts, and government agencies in New York State.
• Also in New York, the New York State Microelectronics Defense Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Workforce consortium got $5 million for a $7.8-million project to strengthen talent pipelines, cultivate an innovation ecosystem and enhance local supplier resilience in New York State’s microelectronics industry.
• The Central Pennsylvania Defense Shipbuilding Talent and Innovation Defense Ecosystem received $4.9 million for a $6.1 million project to support the increase production from one to three submarines per year by supporting a sustainable pipeline of skilled defense-specific talent and increasing adoption of production automation by the submarine industrial base.
• Finally, $5 million went to the America’s Additive Foundry Consortium to undertake a $7.5-million project to secure a U.S. supply of tactical alloys using additive, hybrid, and intelligent manufacturing to address casting and forging supply chain issues facing the U.S. military. This will be done by developing and providing technical support for novel materials and processes, offering certificate/training programs, and serving as a regional tech demonstration hub.

“These grant awards are focused in defense-critical sectors, from battery and energy storage to microelectronics and castings and forgings,” said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, in a release. “These projects highlight the important innovation ecosystem that exists between public, private and academic partners.”