JUST IN: Military’s Current Sealift, Airlift Strategy ‘Suboptimal’ for Conflict
2/11/2025
By Josh Luckenbaugh
Defense Dept. photo
ORLANDO, Florida — The U.S. military’s reliance on commercial providers for sealift and airlift is not viable should a conflict arise, and the Defense Department is hoping partnerships with allies will improve its sustainment processes, a Pentagon official said Feb. 11.
During peacetime, commercial industry provides the military 90 percent of its sealift and personnel airlift, and about 40 percent of its cargo airlift requirements, said Leigh Method, who is currently performing the duties of principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for sustainment.
“Of course, that demand signal goes up dramatically in a contingency or crisis,” and “the strategic reality is that we can't assume sealift or even airlift will have the capacity to support our traditional retrograde strategy for supporting the warfighter,” Method said during a keynote speech at the National Defense Industrial Association’s National Logistics Forum.
“Our current strategies of moving materiel and assets back to the [continental United States] for maintenance and repair are suboptimal in a contested environment,” she said. “We do not have nearly enough sealift capacity to meet the demands of conflict and competition.”
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2025/2/11/militarys-current-sealift-airlift-strategy-suboptimal-for-conflict
