Vessel delivery is only the first requirement of building a new maritime capability. Sustaining that capability once it is operating is the harder and more consequential problem; this is where MARTAC is investing.
In the near future MARTAC will be cutting the ribbon on a Center of Excellence in Subic Bay, a facility designed as a model for delivering sustainment, training and operations for unmanned systems forward. While the Center is part of a total capability solution, other elements are essential to a holistic approach.
To that end, MARTAC is actively creating a performance-based sustainment model in partnership with an international defense customer, which defines the value of and approach for delivering a complete CONOPS solution. Among the components of that solution are:
- Locally trained Fleet Support Representatives (FSRs) to support operations and maintenance forward, embedded with host nation forces
- Locally trained instructors armed with bilingual multi-media curriculum to efficiently deliver standardized and repeatable learning
- Integrating OEM training and operations with deployed forces to aid in their mission planning, tactics and CONOPS, an essential element needed for a complete Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership & education, Personnel, and Facilities (DOTMLPF) delivery
- Partnering with local maritime repair facilities to deliver timely, on-demand maintenance support focused on planned rather than reactive corrective maintenance. This includes training and embedding maintenance service reps with forward-deployed forces, supported by a Computer Maintenance Management System (CMMS) that tracks all maintenance actions and trends, spares use rate, inventory management and other key metrics
- Transition planning with the host nation to enable an enduring life cycle support when the funded program ends. This entails assisting with inducting unmanned systems into the fleet inventory with detailed bill of materials (BOM), operating and maintenance cost data, warranty transfer planning and preparation, “Train-the-Trainer” programs, and deployable mobile remote operating centers (MROCs) to sustain operations forward
The work underway in the Philippines is not a one-off. Every lesson learned standing up forward sustainment; cultural understandings, FSR pipelines, curriculum that transfers, CMMS-driven planned maintenance, local repair partnerships, and life cycle transition to the host nation is being captured and built into a dynamic model that then becomes a baseline for adapting to other environments. It is not a one size fits all approach. The model will inform how MARTAC delivers sustainment forward for the U.S. Navy, and for every friend and ally who chooses MARTAC as their OEM of choice. We’re proving it first where the operating environment is hardest.