US Department of War Awards its Innovation Unit $90 Million to Modernize Manufacturing

PITTSBURG — The US Department of War has awarded the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, a Pittsburg-based government-funded manufacturing innovation institute, nearly $90 million to modernize robotics, AI and drone systems at 12 U.S. military manufacturing sites, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, institution said Sept. 3. 

The two-year package targets the military’s Organic Industrial Base (OIB), a network of arsenals, depots and ammunition plants that build and maintain military equipment, and will fund 10 projects involving 15 ARM consortium members. The institute has not named the members, projects or sites. 

The funding stems from an OIB Modernization Challenge issued earlier this year by the Office of the Under Secretary of War Manufacturing Technology Office to the country’s Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, the statement says.

The initiative is intended to bring practical technology and workforce improvements into defense manufacturing facilities. 

The projects will address problems across all branches of the military operations. Proposed applications include using AI to improve manufacturing quality, deploying drones to accelerate mission readiness and applying robotics to remove production bottlenecks. Other work will focus on improving safety in energetics production, which includes the manufacture and handling of materials used in ammunition and explosives. 

Workforce preparation is also part of the program. Each project must include a workforce-readiness component led by ARM and its workforce partners. The institute plans to identify the skills employees will need to operate new systems and determine where workers require additional training or where facilities may need to recruit new staff. 

The ARM Institute's nearly $90 million figure comes from its own announcement and has not been independently confirmed with a government funding notice. 

The award follows similar spending this summer: Chicago's Digital Manufacturing and Cybersecurity Institute, also known as MxD, said Aug. 5 it had received $67 million from the department for nine related modernization projects.