February 2025 Volume 7

INDUSTRY NEWS

the FIA CEO titled ‘It doesn’t get much more basic’: Why forging can’t be forgotten.” FIA also organized a roundtable discussion with defense reporters in Washington, D.C. to discuss the results of the capacity study, which was subsequently publicized by multiple publications that cater to the Pentagon and defense contractors. In one example, Seapower Magazine, which is the voice of the Navy League of the United States, a leading industry group, reported that “the forging industry has a message for the Depart ment of Defense and the country’s defense contractors: it has tremendous capacity and is ready to work.” “A major reason for the unused capacity is the inconsistent demand signal given by DoD and the Congress,” Washington, D.C. -based Defense Daily also reported. “When the demand signal is known, the forging industry can line up the work rela The campaign has generated more debate in defense acquisi tion circles about what the forging industry is capable of. In the process, it has offered fresh opportunities for knowledgeable offi cials to counter the false narrative that the industry can’t produce at higher levels and highlight government policies that limit the industry’s ability to respond to their needs. That included some lively commentary from senior Defense Department acquisition officials and industry leaders on social media that is placing the topic higher on the radar of the organiza tions that can make the biggest difference. It has also opened the aperture to bore deeper into where in the supply chain the most unused capacity exists and how to tap into it. FIA received multiple requests in the wake of the campaign from government officials and defense journalists and analysts for tours of forging plants and to meet with more executives and plant managers. For example, Aviation Week, another leading aerospace and defense industry journal, toured Pursuit Aerospace in Ohio in November and is preparing a more comprehensive article about the forging industry’s role in the defense industrial base. Meanwhile, Defense Daily and Bloomberg Intelligence, which provides government and corporate clients with interactive data, tools and research across industries and global markets, toured ATI Specialty Metals and Scot Forge in Wisconsin in January as part of their expanding coverage and research. The group also met with executives from Unit Forgings and Finkl Steel. “It was incredibly enlightening to understand the industry,” said retired Army Col. Wayner Sanders, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Defense Weapons Analyst and former Chief of Staff to the Under secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He said among the takeaways were “the importance of material sciences and how they play into different finalized products,” as tively quickly…” Show and Tell

well as “the chokepoints for military production” and “how the long lead time for production orders and translation of require ments from DoD to either the primes or to the forgers slows the process.” Next Steps FIA intends to keep up the pressure, especially with a new Congress and a new presidential administration eyeing more investments in the defense industrial base. That means reaching more opinion leaders and DC-based trade journalists who will be shaping the debates over acquisition policy and industrial base funding – and the lawmakers and executive branch officials who will be making the decisions and writing the budgets. For example, FIA is expanding its strategic outreach to bring together forging leaders, prime contractors, DoD officials, and leading D.C. think tank scholars in more intimate settings for frank talk. In February, during the association’s annual lobby push on Capitol Hill, we’ll hold a dinner and discussion with top leaders from Northrop Grumman, Electric Boat, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Navy, the Heritage Foundation and Center for Stra tegic and International Studies, and other leading experts on the defense supply chain and industrial base policy. These and other outreach efforts will offer more opportunities to better equip the next crop of leaders and defense industry execu tives who will be tasked with helping chart the future of our industry. Because if we are not driving the conversation, we’ll be drowned out by all the noise. Bryan Bender Vice President of Communications Strategy Strategic Marketing Innovations Phone: 202-369-6856 Email: bender@strategicmi.com Heavy forged product for defense application. Photo: Lehigh Heavy Forge

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2025 73