(Distro A) Endless Forge Distro A Deck Industry Day

ENDLESS F RGE

Battlefield Responsive Manufacturing For The Warfighter

26 Mar 2026

D R . M A R K B E N E D I C T, S T - 0 0

DR. BILL BERNSTEIN

S E N I O R S C I E N T I S T,

AOI 1 LEAD

C O N V E R G E N T M AN U FAC T U R I N G

EF LEAD

DR. ANDREW ZAKRAJSEK

AOI 2 LEAD

Controlled by: AFRL/RX and RS
Distribution/Dissemination Controls: Distro A

Case Number: AFRL-2026-0925
CLEARED on 02 Mar 2026

Distribution A

Endless F rge is Manufacturing-as-a-Service:
a surge-capable, adaptive, resilient, and
scalable manufacturing capability – to give
Blue the edge in ALL fights through industrial
base dominance!
Continuous Battlefield Adaption is
essential to effective military production
Distribution A

Freedom’s Forge Transforms into Endless Forge

Distribution A

Why is Endless Forge Needed
Current Acq System Not Agile to Battlefield Response
• Weapon system acceptance is a slow, linear,
vertically-integrated process
• Weapon system requirements are over-defined often with unsubstantiated intent Current Capacity Production Not Enough
• Production lines are currently near or at capacity
• Current production insufficient to sustain a protracted conflict; adding third shift is current best option
Inconsistent Demand Signals to Industry
• DOW frequently changes planned future procurement schedule • Uncertainty affects long-term planning for facilities, tooling, training, and supply chain contracts 21st Century Acquisition and Manufacturing Must:
 Support immediate regeneration of mass and accept new requirements  Link into regionalized manufacturing ecosystem, take advantage of MaaS Distribution A

Manufacturing Models Overview

Mass Production

Contract Manufacturing

Manufacturing as a Service

CONTROL

CONTROL

CONTROL

SCALE

SCALE

SCALE

FLEXIBILITY

FLEXIBILITY

FLEXIBILITY

Centralized, in-house
High volume, standardized
Low - tooling investment

Distributed via contracts
Variable, third-party capacity
Medium - supplier dependent

API-driven, on-demand
Elastic, network capacity
High - rapid iteration

Distribution A

Endless Forge - Adapting Manufacturing to changing requirements • Provides "Manufacturing-as-a-Service"
(MaaS)—a surge-capable, resilient, and
scalable approach to give the US the edge in
enduring conflicts

Modernizing Weapon System Production

• Delivers credible combat mass rapidly from
receiving new requirement
• Creates a distributed network of factories: no
single point of failure
• Enables continuous adaptation of weapons to