PRODUCT SUPPORT
the department’s Acquisition Trans - formation Strategy. By expanding the industrial base through allied part - nerships, streamlining requirements with real time feedback from the field, empowering portfolio acquisition executives and sustainment leaders, and ensuring that funding follows ur - gent operational needs, RSF demon - strates how sustainment can embody the strategy’s pillars while delivering readiness at the speed of relevance. RSF is a strategic response to two converging priorities: the depart - ment’s recognition of contested lo - gistics as a pacing challenge, and the Secretary of War’s directive to build resilient, cost-effective sustainment networks, rebuild the workforce, and re-establish deterrence. RSF is grounded in straightforward princi - ples: Sustainment support must be positioned closer to the point of need to ensure readiness, and the burden of sustainment must be shared, lever - aging collective strengths. What Are RSF and Co-Sustainment? RSF offers a structured approach that organizes sustainment efforts into clear lines of effort. Combatant Commands (CCMDs) identify regional priorities based on operational re - quirements. The Services contribute their expertise, assets, and resources. The Office of the Secretary of War and the Joint Staff provide overarching guidance and ensure coordination and integration across theaters. In - dustry partners add technical depth and drive innovation. Allies and part - ners contribute infrastructure, work - force, repair capabilities, and access to logistics hubs that no single nation could reasonably establish on its own. RSF represents a shift away from traditional Service-unique sustain - ment models. Rather than treat in - ternational cooperation as a second - ary option or diplomatic obligation, it positions co-sustainment as the standard that achieves equitable and tangible benefits for all stakeholders.
RSF initiatives are being aligned with the depart- ment’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, leveraging fexible contracting tools and rapid resource allocation to ensure sustainment solu- tions are delivered at the speed of relevance. In this way, RSF and co-sustainment initiatives are not only advancing resilience in contested logis- tics but also directly reinforcing the department’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy.
Each Pathway or Pilot Project demon - strates how bilateral and multilateral collaboration can address real-world sustainment challenges. These proj - ects are not simply prototype demon - strations. They serve as tangible ex - amples of how shared investment in sustainment yields immediate bene - fits for the combined force and builds foundational anchors and trust for long-term resilience across the global industrial base and supply chains. RSF and Co-Sustainment in Action RSF and the idea of a co-sustain - ment ecosystem are no longer just ideas on paper. Over the past two years, this concept has moved into practice through a series of overlap - ping implementation activities and initiatives that clearly demonstrate what co-sustainment can deliver. These efforts are deliberately bilat - eral or multilateral in focus at the outset, since trusted partnerships are the foundation of any regional network. By starting with strong and meaningful bilateral and multilateral engagements, the department and its partners have been able to simultane - ously build trust, test concepts, align priorities, and increase the confi - dence needed to expand into unprec - edented and reciprocally benefitting multilateral arrangements. Bilateral Pathway Projects fo - cused on specific sustainment gaps identified by the CCMDs are either
underway or under development in areas of responsibility under the U.S. Indo-Pacific, European, and Central Commands. These projects include Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO), storage and support for se - cure information/communications systems, Army Watercraft, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, as well as missile defense systems. Each of these projects has helped the United States and its allies and partners understand what is needed to enable co-sustainment and has helped set a new standard for sup - porting readiness closer to the point of need. These projects are already making a difference in terms of read - iness in the Indo-Pacific where RSF has reduced transit time for Army Watercraft by 40 days, eliminated 470 days of transit and queue time for the Multifunctional Information Distribu - tion System Joint Tactical Radio Sys - tem inspection and repair, and has increased flight hours for F-16 fight - ers, HH-60 helicopters, and F-15s in theater. Equally important, RSF demon - strates how funding agility can be achieved in practice. By structuring Pathway and Pilot Projects as mod - ular, scalable efforts, resources can be redirected rapidly to the highest priority sustainment gaps. This ap - proach reflects the Acquisition Trans - formation Strategy’s principle that money must follow need, ensuring that investments are concentrated
16 DEFENSE ACQUISITION MAGAZINE | JANUARY FEBRUARY 2026 –
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