DLA Contested Logistics: What Small OEM Shops Should Watch
Posted by Jason Hansen on Sep 10th 2026
DLA contested logistics is no longer a briefing-room phrase. On September 9, 2026, outgoing Defense Logistics Agency director Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly told reporters at DLA’s Industry Collider Day that the agency has had to accelerate change because the logistics assumptions from Iraq and Afghanistan no longer hold.
In those earlier fights, DLA could often deliver food, fuel
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AS9100 CNC Shops and Long-Term Agreements: What Tier 1 Demand Means for Small Manufacturers
Posted by Jason Hansen on Sep 9th 2026
AS9100 CNC machining is not just a quality badge anymore. In early September 2026, AGA Precision Systems announced a second long-term agreement (LTA) to manufacture aerospace and defense components for a Tier 1 firm. That kind of deal is a clear demand signal: primes and Tier 1s want qualified small shops that can hold quality, delivery, and price over years, not one-off POs.
W
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DIBX 2026, the Defense Industrial Base Accelerator, runs August 25-27 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. It is built for small and mid-size manufacturers in the defense industrial base, not for 40-foot prime contractor booths.
What DIBX is
The event is hosted around the DIB Consortium and the Department of Defense's small-business engagement work. The point
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