DLA Weapons Support expands industrial base capacity, spurs innovation

Just like drops of water filling a bucket when it rains, small businesses and what they provide are integral to revitalizing the nation's defense industrial base.

For the Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support Office of Small Business Programs, balancing the water in that proverbial bucket involves a holistic approach, matching small business capabilities to the right opportunities at DLA, helping to ensure the DIB's capacity to sustain military readiness.

A key focus of this revitalization is the crucial role of new entrants in driving competition and innovation in the military-grade spare and repair parts marketplace. These parts, known in defense circles as Class IX, are manufactured to a much higher standard than the commercial market, making them unique commodities and inherently scarce over time as the Services continue to modernize while sustaining legacy systems for use around the globe.

The Pentagon, in its recently released National Defense Strategy, directed all Department of War agencies to "supercharge the DIB," calling for "a once-in-a-century revival of American industry," by bringing in more domestic entrants into the defense ecosystem.

"We are heavily focusing our efforts on bringing in new entrants into the manufacturing sector to fill obsolescence gaps and spur innovation," said Matt Elliott, deputy director of the DLA Weapons Support Office of Small Business Programs.

Elliott said DLA Weapons Support targets small manufacturers for their unique ability to innovate, change their equipment more quickly and remain resilient in response to fluctuating market conditions.

He added that bringing small businesses into the defense contracting space is a team sport, as the office works closely with the supply chains to aggressively identify and award contracts to new entrants. This partnership brought in 479 new entrants in fiscal 2025, exceeding the DLA OSBP goal of 375 by 28%.

For fiscal 2026, Elliott said there have been 219 new entrants so far, a significant step toward this year's target of 638. Ninety-seven of those new entrants are manufacturers, with 81 of them being small businesses.

Thanks to a new DLA-designed data analysis tool, Elliott said the office has more visibility into the types of businesses competing in the parts marketplace. This better enables the office's small business professionals to strategically build its manufacturer base by targeting only those firms who can fill a specific need from the Services, saving hundreds of man-hours.

"This is helping us see how many new businesses are in the industry," Elliott said. "With this new visibility, we are able to target these businesses directly and can help them get exactly what they need to get started as soon as possible through the different avenues at our fingertips."

Elliott said this and other new tools like the War Department's LYNX platform and DLA's Vendor Information Hub, augment other outreach vehicles to facilitate a good match with what DLA Weapons Support needs to sustain warfighter readiness.