ARM Institute modernizes military manufacturing sites with nearly $90M in funds

Earlier in 2026, the Office of the Under Secretary of War Manufacturing Technology Office (OSW ManTech) issued an Organic Industrial Base (OIB) Modernization Challenge to the nation’s Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs), including the ARM Institute.

This challenge supports the Department of War (DoW)’s focus on transforming and modernizing defense manufacturing through practical technology and workforce innovations. Through this challenge, the ARM Institute said that it was awarded nearly $90M in funding for ten projects led by the ARM Institute and its consortium members.

ARM Institute, members rise to the challenge

The ARM Institute said that 15 member organizations will deliver viable working offerings within a two-year timeframe to solve exceptionally complex automation and modernization challenges at 12 military manufacturing sites, often referred to as the OIB, across the United States.

The ARM Institute said that the US OIB is a complex network of arsenals, depots and ammunition plants that build and maintain the equipment that powers the U.S. military, playing a critical role in both supporting warfighters and ensuring national security. The DoW has embarked on an extensive strategic effort to modernize the operations at these facilities through advanced technologies, such as robotics and physical AI.

“This funding award recognizes not only the leadership role the ARM Institute plays in modernizing manufacturing, but the key role our member consortium plays in these efforts,” said Jorgen Pedersen, CEO of the ARM Institute. “We are honored to work on this important initiative for our nation and we congratulate our members on the role they will play in this historic effort to modernize the Organic Industrial Base.”

ARM said that its members stepped up to this challenge by bridging innovation with practicality to propose technologies that will tangibly benefit the OIB and its workforce. The Institute said that the selected innovations range from improving safety in energetics production and increasing manufacturing quality using AI, to accelerating mission readiness using drones to removing bottlenecks through robotics. ARM said these technologies address challenges affecting each branch of the military.

“Innovation cannot exist in a vacuum. A skilled workforce is needed to support these technologies,” noted Lisa Masciantonio, chief workforce officer at the ARM Institute. “We are thrilled that the Department of War recognizes the importance of the human workforce. We look forward to working with OIB sites across the nation to not only upgrade their technologies but also ensure that their workforce is ready for the forthcoming improvements to their operations.”

The ARM Institute said that technology innovations can only have impact if the workforce is prepared to work alongside new systems and processes. The Institute added that each system plan includes a workforce readiness component that the ARM Institute will lead with its workforce partners.

This work will center on identifying the skills workers need to operate these systems and, as necessary, identifying ways to upskill the workforce and/or recruit additional workers to support the new technologies.