OSD's Manufacturing Science and Technology Program

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The Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) Manufacturing Science and Technology Program (MSTP) is a research and development investment portfolio focused on a set of identified joint, defense-critical, and sometimes high-risk manufacturing technology areas. The portfolio focuses on cross-cutting defense manufacturing needs – those that are beyond the ability of a single Military Service to address – and stimulates the early development of manufacturing processes and enterprise business practices concurrent with science and technology development to achieve the largest cost-effective impact and facilitate the developments enabling capabilities to our Warfighters.
Overview

Along with providing manufacturing policy and direction for the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology (DoD ManTech) Program and serving as a Principal on the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP), the OSD ManTech Office also oversees the MSTP investment portfolio funded under investment line P680 of Program Element 0603680D8Z.

 

OSD ManTech Office: The Power to Connect and Drive Transition

  • Convenes the Services and Agencies to develop and execute the DoD ManTech Strategic Plan
  • Positioned to operate across and coordinate the manufacturing enterprise
  • Focuses science and technology priorities and responds to operational shortfalls to create warfighter capabilities
  • Leveraged to maximize resources to improve capability and reduce cost
Manufacturing Dominance




 
Annual Call for Proposals
Every year, the JDMTP meets to review and identify Joint Technology Pursuit Areas (JTPAs) which influence OSD MSTP and the overall DoD ManTech Program’s annual project calls.  Based on the JTPA’s and other Department priorities, OSD MSTP issues a government-only call for proposals for projects beginning the following fiscal year.  Proposal submissions include a three- to five-page whitepaper describing the technical problem, proposed approach to correct it, deliverables, impact, funding profile, and clear transition opportunities.  Selected whitepapers are requested to provide full proposals in the spring for consideration and selection by mid-summer.  Projects are executed by engineers and scientists throughout the DoD Lab Enterprise, with contracts being managed by the project team’s Command. 
  • Addresses DoD enterprise-wide issues
  • Applicable to joint service 
  • Enhances manufacturability and producibility of a process or component
  • Mitigates beyond reasonable and normal industry and program office risk 
  • Defense-essential or defense-unique
Technology transition and joint-service or multi-system application are key factors in selecting OSD MSTP projects.  To ensure investments have a long-term impact, the OSD ManTech Office requires all potential OSD MSTP projects to have a clear technology transition plan and target along with endorsement from the potential transition target’s program office.  Funding is typically a combination of OSD MSTP investment, Component ManTech program investments, program office or transition office investments, and industry investment cost share.
 
What makes a good OSD MSTP project?
  • MSTP Program scope
    • Significantly enhances manufacturability and producibility
    • Beyond the acceptable risk for industry or a single program office
    • Defense-essential or defense-unique
  • Joint Service warfighter impact
    • Multi-service, multi-system applications
    • Significant to warfighting capability; solves a warfighting problem
  • Clear magnitude of impact
    • Capability, cost, cycle time, process yield improvement, faster time to implementation, number of systems impacted, positive return on investment (ROI), or other quantifiable merits
  • Sound technical approach
  • Key metrics for measuring manufacturing and project success
  • Maturity at start no less than Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 3
  • Maturity at end no greater than MRL 7
  • Clear transition and implementation path to warfighter or to the next funding agent
Budget

$31.5M (FY25)
 

Out-Year Considerations

  • Metals

  • Electronics

  • Composites

  • Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise

  • Energetic Materials & Processes

  • OUSD(R&E) Critical Technology Areas:

- Advanced Computing and
Software
- Advanced Materials
- Biotechnology
- Directed Energy
- Future Generation
Wireless Technology
- Human-machine Interfaces
- Hypersonics
- Integrated Network
Systems-of-Systems
- Integrated Sensing and
Cyber
- Microelectronics
- Quantum Science
- Renewable Energy
Generation and Storage
- Space Technology        
- Trusted Artificial
Intelligence and Autonomy

Successes