In the current context of intense defense activities, the need to innovate, adapt and respond has never been greater. How can we rise to the challenges we now all face?

The Aerospace & Defense industry needs to be able to adapt to ever-changing threats, dynamic market conditions, challenging ramp-up, and new innovative technologies. Companies must dynamically match production with demand while continuously improving quality & sustainability, lowering costs, ensuring worker safety and health, and delivering on time.

Agile and resilient companies can eliminate costs, quality issues, and waste virtually before production starts. They can plan their production system strategic upgrades and anticipate potential issues before they occur, simulate multiple scenarios rapidly to determine the best course of action, and have the flexibility in their production systems and methods to meet new sustainable market demands.

1. What is the role of technology in supporting defense innovations?

An unprecedented period of defense modernization is starting, triggered by global geopolitical instability. Countries around the globe are investing significantly in the development and acquisition of more capable defense systems to strengthen their military forces and meet the new threats of 21st-century warfare. As these threats evolve quickly, a key challenge is to develop capabilities and systems that can be reconfigured and modified quickly; enable efficient cooperation among all stakeholders; optimize from design to manufacturing and operations level, and streamline the interoperability with other defense systems from other countries.

2. How to enable agile production in defense?

In the current context of intense defense activities, the need for new products and autonomous technology brings new challenges to production and rate. While smart manufacturing, robotization and automation, and virtual technologies are part of the solution, the ability to adapt and respond quickly and efficiently to defense force needs and operations ultimately requires collaboration, removal of silos, and non-sequential planning. How do we integrate design, manufacturing, and supply chain to be more agile and efficient?