As operational demands increase across the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. Navy faces persistent challenges in sustainment, supply-chain resilience, and platform readiness at distance. This session examines how ASTRO America’s GAMMA initiative is addressing those challenges by establishing a forward-deployed manufacturing hub purpose-built to support naval sustainment and rapid response in contested and remote environments. Panelists will explore how GAMMA integrates advanced additive manufacturing, materials characterization and metrology, digital qualification, and workforce development into a cohesive, deployable manufacturing ecosystem. The discussion will highlight how these capabilities reduce logistics burdens, accelerate maintenance timelines, and enable trusted low-rate production at the point of need—while maintaining the rigor required for defense applications. The session will also examine the policy, partnership, and operational frameworks needed to make forward-deployed manufacturing scalable and sustainable. Attendees will gain insight into how industry, government, and academia can collaborate within the GAMMA initiative, what capabilities and gaps are most critical for Indo-Pacific readiness, and where new partners can engage to shape the future of defense manufacturing infrastructure.
