As the U.S. Navy navigates a complex and rapidly changing global environment, maintaining combat-ready aircraft, ships, and submarines is critical. At the forefront of this mission is Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Weapon Systems Support (WSS), responsible for supply chain management and logistics for Navy and Marine Corps aviation and maritime assets. NAVSUP WSS ensures the availability of essential repair parts and collaborates with industry partners to sustain the operational readiness of the Navy's platforms.
NAVSUP WSS’s mission directly supports Naval Aviation Enterprise, Surface Warfare Enterprise (SWE), and Undersea Enterprise (USE) priorities, known as the North Stars, which aim to deliver combat-ready naval forces by Jan. 1, 2027. These initiatives, championed by Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, the Navy’s Air Boss; Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) Boss; and Vice Adm. Robert Gaucher, Submarine Boss, respectively, emphasize the importance of building a capable force ready to operate in contested environments. NAVSUP WSS’s efforts are vital in ensuring that the Navy’s aviation and maritime platforms and weapon systems are fully mission-capable, ready to deploy, and efficiently supported by logistics.
A significant aspect of NAVSUP WSS’s role is the management of high-value repairable components, such as engines, avionics, and airframes, as well as radars, sonars, and even nuclear reactor items. NAVSUP WSS currently manages more than 300,000 line items with $9.0B in sales for FY24. These critical items undergo a repair-and-return process, allowing them to be restored and reused, rather than discarded. This approach is a more cost-effective sustainment strategy than buying new components at time of need. In addition, it allows for a continuous supply of essential parts for high-demand platforms and weapon systems.
NAVSUP WSS oversees the entire lifecycle of these components, minimizing aircraft, ship, and submarine downtime by ensuring that repairs and redistribution happen swiftly. Reducing the time aircraft spend grounded or ships and submarines spend in maintenance is essential for maintaining fleet readiness, especially as the Navy pushes toward the 2027 North Star deadline.
Supporting Fleet and Depot-Level Maintenance
NAVSUP WSS collaborates closely with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and Fleet Readiness Centers (FRCs), as well as Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Shipyards, and Regional Maintenance Centers, to provide essential spare parts and materials to maintenance teams, whether they are working on aircraft aboard carriers or at shore-based depots, or ships and submarines in drydock. This support is crucial during in-depth repairs and overhauls, allowing platforms to return to operational status as quickly as possible to meet readiness goals. The command’s ability to deliver the right parts at the right time is vital for achieving the 2027 readiness benchmarks.
Advanced Supply Chain Management
NAVSUP WSS’s ability to support the NAE, SWE, and USE relies on its advanced supply chain and inventory management practices. By utilizing data analytics and demand forecasting, NAVSUP WSS ensures timely delivery of parts and materials, which helps prevent shortages and backorders.
For example, on Sept. 23, 2024, the E-2D/C-2 community successfully met all Fully Mission Capable (FMC) and Mission Capable (MC) goals for all three Type Model Series (TMS). This achievement underscores how strongly supply chain management directly contributes to operational readiness and mission success.
Similarly, over the last two fiscal years, the NAVSUP WSS submarine and industrial support directorate and contracting directorate teamed with Program Executive Office Attack Submarines (PEO SSN) to procure nearly $1.2B of material in support of ten future Virginia Class submarine availabilities. This cross-organizational effort will directly support force generation and submarine North Star goals.
The command’s supply chain management capabilities extend globally to support units operating worldwide—from carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups in the Pacific to independent deployers in the Mediterranean and submarines around the world.
The global nature of naval operations necessitates that NAVSUP WSS provide comprehensive support to deployed units. Regardless of how remote the location, NAVSUP WSS delivers the necessary parts, tools, and equipment to keep units operational. In FY24, NAVSUP WSS received over 390K requisitions, with a fill rate of 85%.
Collaboration with Industry Partners
Recognizing the importance of strong industry relationships, NAVSUP WSS collaborates with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and other partners to ensure a steady flow of parts and services. Long-term contracts and Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) agreements are key components of this collaboration, fostering efficiency and cost savings while maintaining high readiness levels. Particularly through PBL agreements, NAVSUP WSS and industry partners share responsibilities for platform operability, incentivizing performance metrics in support of the 2027 North Star readiness timeline.
Readiness Initiatives across NAE, SWE, and USE
A common mission of the NAE, SWE, and USE is to reduce the number of non-mission-capable platforms and weapon systems caused by supply issues.
By minimizing backorders and improving the speed and accuracy of logistics support, NAVSUP WSS plays a vital role in ensuring that aircraft are mission-ready. One example of this proactive collaboration is the Reliability Sprints initiative, during which NAVSUP WSS works closely with the Program Management Offices to address critical degraders.
Similarly, NAVSUP WSS is collaborating with surface and submarine program offices, resource sponsors, hardware systems commands, and type commanders to increase demand-based and readiness based sparing allowances to minimize off-ship requirements, thereby increasing speed to repair, weapon system availability, and ultimately mission readiness.
As the Navy operates in increasingly contested environments, NAVSUP WSS’s role in sustaining forward-deployed forces is critical to achieving combat readiness across all operational theaters.
NAVSUP WSS is an essential component of naval aviation and maritime readiness, providing the supply chain management, repairable item support, and global logistics capabilities necessary to keep Navy and Marine Corps platforms and weapon systems mission-ready. Through partnerships with industry, collaboration with Navy stakeholders, and innovative supply chain strategies, NAVSUP WSS is pivotal in sustaining the Navy's forces today and meeting North Star goals by Jan. 1, 2027.
