RICHMOND, Va. –
For the first time, the Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support (Richmond) Naval Aviation Customer Facing Directorate hosted this year’s H-60 End-to-End Summit, a critical meeting focused on ensuring the readiness of the U.S. Navy’s Seahawk helicopter fleet, held Feb. 10-12 on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia, shifting the event from its traditional Philadelphia location.
The annual summit, led by the Naval Supply Systems Command headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, brought together a diverse group of experts from across the defense sector to collaborate on complex supply chain challenges. The purpose of the meeting is to establish alternative solutions for constrained supply parts to fix underlying problems rather than simply acquiring more inventory.
“This meeting is fundamental to our mission of supporting the warfighter,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Launey, DLA Weapons Support (Richmond) commander. “Getting collaboration across all the logistics professionals in this room allows us to tackle systemic issues head-on, ensuring our service members have the reliable capability they need to execute their missions safely and effectively. It’s about being smarter, more efficient, and more collaborative in our approach to logistics.”
Participants included subject matter experts from across the DLA enterprise; NAVSUP; Naval Air Systems Command H-60 Multi-Mission Helicopters Program Office; Navy H-60 Fleet Support Team; Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers; Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic’s Mission Operations Cell; Commander, Helicopter Sea Combat and Helicopter Maritime Strike Wings Atlantic; Sikorsky, the helicopter’s manufacturer; and Parker Lord, a key component supplier.
The core of the E2E Summit involves a deep-dive analysis of specific parts, identified by their National Item Identification Numbers, with historically troubled supply chains. These are components that are frequently backordered, difficult to source or have high failure rates, directly impacting the operational availability of the H-60 helicopters.
According to Navy Cmdr. Jason Morlan, a H-60 weapon system program officer in the Naval Aviation Customer Facing Directorate, the group examines each troubled part from multiple perspectives.
“We bring together engineers, logisticians, Navy Fleet maintainers, and our industry partners to look at a NIIN from all vantage points,” he explained. “We’re trying to see if there are opportunities to mute demand or identify irregularities in our current maintenance practices.”
Muting demand is the process of finding the root cause of why a part is failing and fixing said problem, illuminating the need to order replacements parts as often.
This holistic review can lead to a variety of innovative solutions. For instance, the team may discover that a technical publication or maintenance manual is unclear, leading to incorrect installation or usage of a part. By updating the publication, they can prevent premature failures and reduce the demand for replacements. In other cases, they may find that the support equipment needed to properly test or install a component is not readily available to maintainers, forcing them to replace the item with a larger, more complex item. Addressing that equipment shortage is a far more efficient solution than stocking more of the larger part.
One of the reoccurring challenges associated with the H-60 fleet is the aft bridge bell crank, a specific flight control component. This part, along with certain fuel cells and various rod end bearings, were a major focus of the three-day summit. The collaborative environment allowed the team the opportunity to explore whether advancements in materials science versus improved engineering and design could offer a more durable alternative and eliminate the root cause of the component’s failure.
“The ultimate goal is to generate actionable solutions that improve fleet readiness,” Morlan said. “These actions can range from updating technical manuals and refining maintenance procedures to pursuing improved engineering and design modifications. By muting demand, the team aims to decrease the number of replacement parts needed, which not only saves money but also frees up industrial capacity and logistical resources to focus on other critical needs.”
According to Morlan, hosting the meeting in Richmond presented a unique and valuable opportunity for the Weapons Support (Richmond) participants.
“This allowed them the opportunity to collaborate in person which they would not have normally been able to do, which helped to facilitate a greater understanding of the ‘aviation ecosystem’ and the unique challenges that the fleet customers face,” he said.
This direct interaction helps DLA planners, buyers and logistics specialists connect their daily tasks to the real-world operational impact on the warfighter. It bridges the gap between administration and operations, providing a clearer picture of how a constrained supply part on a spreadsheet translates to a helicopter that cannot perform its mission.
By bringing the full spectrum of the H-60 support community together, the E2E meeting reinforces a unified effort to solve the fleet’s most pressing material readiness issues, ensuring that the Navy’s helicopter forces remain ready to answer the nation’s call at any given time.