US Department of Defense approves $30 Mn in grants under Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program.

On September 25, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded six Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grants totaling 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.
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On September 25, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded six Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grants totaling approximately $30 million from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (Picture source: U.S. DoD)

On August 16, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy designated six consortia as Defense Manufacturing Communities and instructed the OLDCC to invite them to submit grant applications based upon the competitiveness of their respective scopes and funding in response to the April 24, DMCSP Notice of Funding Opportunity. The awards derive from Fiscal Year 2023 appropriated funding and leverage an additional $10,934,491 in non-Federal funds for a total investment of $40,759,243.

"Delivering capabilities to our warfighters at scale depends on a resilient and robust manufacturing base," said Dr. William L. 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. I am confident that the collaboration with public, private, and academic partners fostered by the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program will have a lasting impact not only on our defense industrial base, but on our national security for years to come."

"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. "These projects highlight the important innovation ecosystem that exists between public, private and academic partners, and DoD looks forward to following the progress on each of these initiatives."

The grant awards are as follows:

* $4,997,965 to the Michigan Defense Resiliency Consortium to undertake a $6,302,965 project to create the critical foundation for energy storage and battery manufacturing necessary to support the Department of Defense's rapid transformation from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles and beyond by leveraging federal and state investments, and providing a series of technical assistance, technology acceleration, and workforce training initiatives.

* $4,999,950 to the Missouri Defense Manufacturing Community Consortium to undertake a $7,875,486 project to create a pipeline of engineers and tradespeople skilled in the usage of modern digital advanced manufacturing technologies applied to the Department of Defense priority area of castings and forgings.

* $5,000,000 to the New York Consortium for Space Technology Innovation and Development to undertake a $6,814,586 project to address the need for 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 for the space technology sector.

* $5,000,000 to the New York State Microelectronics Defense Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Workforce consortium to undertake a * $7,809,500 project to address challenges in the microelectronics industry by strengthening talent pipelines, cultivating an innovation ecosystem, and enhancing local supplier resilience in New York State.

* $4,908,960 to the Central Pennsylvania Defense Shipbuilding Talent and Innovation Defense Ecosystem to undertake a $6,137,444 project to support the U.S. Navy's national security goal of increasing production from one to three submarines annually by supporting a sustainable pipeline of skilled defense-specific talent and increasing adoption of production automation by the submarine industrial base.

* $5,000,000 to America's Additive Foundry Consortium to undertake a $7,526,385 project to secure a U.S. supply of tactical alloys through additive, hybrid, and intelligent manufacturing to address casting and forging supply chain issues facing the U.S. military by developing and providing technical support for novel materials and processes, offering certificate/training programs, and serving as a regional tech demonstration hub.

The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program is authorized by Section 846 of Public Law 115-232, which enabled the Secretary of Defense to establish a program to designate and support consortiums as Defense Manufacturing Communities to strengthen the national security industrial base.