PRODUCT SUPPORT
Q Do you have any opening comments on the state of product support within the Air Force? A. This is undoubtedly a challenging time to be a Product Support Manager [PSM], but it is also an exciting one. PSMs supporting new acquisition programs find themselves in a rapidly changing environment, while facing historic readi - ness shortfalls. The acquisition system has been directed to accelerate the delivery of capabilities and rapidly iterate on new technologies. The way we plan for product support is changing. Digital product support is emerging, artificial intelligence [AI]-enabled tools are being proliferated, and PSMs are being challenged to manage rigorous product support planning with the imperative to provide cutting- edge capability quickly to Warfighters. In this environment, there are no easy answers or cookie-cutter solutions to product support challenges, and the Air Force relies on its PSMs to think critically about how to balance these com - peting forces. Q How is “Digital Product Support” reshaping the PSM’s role, and what specifc skills are now essential? A. Digital Product Support leverages digital engineering, data, and system models to drive effective product support outcomes. The PSM now needs to be adept at using and managing a system’s Authoritative Source of Truth, usually a model-based system. This requires advocating for the ac - quisition of necessary data and appropriate license rights in contracts. PSMs need a solid grasp of model-based en - gineering, product life-cycle management, and data ana - lytics. Understanding the 12 Integrated Product Support [IPS] elements and how they benefit from digital models is crucial. Digital product support enables data-driven deci - sion-making by better understanding our systems and pro - actively planning to address aging issues such as structural fatigue, Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages [DMSMS], and analysis of workforce skills and location of sustainment needs to maximize availability. Digital product support also enables improved life-cycle support, moving from managing by averages to manag - ing by tails, enabling tailored planning for field and depot maintenance and improved supply planning accuracy. Fur - thermore, the logisticians of tomorrow are key leaders in ensuring that supportability analysis, configuration man - agement, technical data management/logistics product data management, and model-based engineering are well addressed throughout the life cycle. Q There’s a lot of attention on artifcial intelligence right now, both in industry and government. What’s your perspective on how AI can contribute to positive product support outcomes? A. AI is definitely in the spotlight, and I think it has real po - tential to transform how we do product support in the Air Force and Space Force. When most people think about AI, they immediately go to things like large language models and generative pre-trained transformers—LLMs and GPTs. I’m particularly hopeful about the possibilities there. Imag -
Te acquisition system has been directed to accelerate the delivery of capabilities and rapidly iterate on new technologies.
ine being able to give a maintainer a tool, a GPT trained on all the official tech manuals, so they can instantly find the right procedure for any task. It’s about getting the right information to people when they need it, and we’re already seeing some of that with the AI assistant at the Warfighting Acquisition University. But beyond LLMs, I’m really looking to see how we can leverage AI in data analytics and decision support. The biggest lever we have in product support is really how we resource a program. Can we afford reliability upgrades for those problem line replaceable units? Do we have the bud - get for corrosion prevention? Are we investing in adequate initial spares? Those kinds of budgetary decisions make all the difference. So, anything we can do to get better in - formation into the hands of decision-makers is a win. A great example of this in action is the Space Force’s Space Sustainment Performance and Enterprise Evaluation Dash - board—we call it SSPEED. The idea behind SSPEED is to proactively manage risk in life-cycle sustainment and really see how resourcing decisions are going to impact opera - tional readiness. It gives us a data-driven way to forecast how our sustainment choices affect mission availability and effectiveness. Right now, SSPEED uses AI to pull in data from all over the place to give us a single, enterprise-wide view of our space systems. Just this descriptive capability alone is huge. But the Space Force is working toward adding AI- powered predictive capabilities by 2026. That’s when we really get into human-machine teaming, using advanced analytics to model the complex connections between our investments in sustainment and the operational outcomes. This will let the Space Force do “what-if” scenario plan - ning so we can optimize resources to achieve the readiness levels we need and minimize potential risks much more effectively than we can today. Looking ahead, I’m confident that AI will be an essential tool for us in life cycle product support. By providing bet - ter information and decision support, it will help us make smarter choices about how we allocate resources and ul - timately improve mission readiness. Q What is the PSM’s role in DMSMS management, and how can proactive strategies minimize its impact? A. Programs are responsible for developing, funding, and executing a DMSMS management plan. This requires pro - active, risk-based management to identify, forecast, and
JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2026 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION MAGAZINE 11
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