November 2025 Volume 7

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

OLD PRESSES CAN’T PROTECT A NATION By Katrina Geenevasen

I n 2021, a simple defect — cracks in 155-mm artillery shells — cut U.S. production in half for months.1 Half . Our soldiers still depended on those rounds. Yet too many in leadership shrugged, letting antiquated equipment become an excuse. During the Ukraine conflict, the cracks in Western industry became even harder to ignore. Observers noted that many “already-ancient factories” in the U.S. and Europe slowed to a crawl or shut down entirely, leaving allies unable to surge production when war broke out.1 The lesson is blunt: old, failure-prone presses aren’t just a nuisance. They’re a serious supply chain risk that can starve the front lines at the worst possible time.2 If defense readiness is more than a slogan, then relying on old presses and worn-out plants is nothing less than negligence. They’re a betrayal of the troops relying on steady firepower and a danger to the nation. Presses are at the center of this failure. These are the machines that forge artillery shells, shape armor, form aerospace parts and much more. But far too many of these presses are 40, 50, even 70 years old. They’re patched together like duct-taped airplanes cleared for takeoff, and one breakdown away from stalling an entire defense program. Far from being mere background machinery, presses are chokepoints in defense manufacturing. And when they fail, entire programs stall. Yet, a 2022 GAO review found that equipment in 15 of 21 U.S. military depots was already past its expected service life, including heavy capital equipment — much of it older industrial machinery that forges shells, armor, and ship components.3 This is the state of play: presses that should have been retired decades ago are still propping up programs meant to protect us today. Every time they limp through another cycle, leaders convince themselves it’s “good enough.” But “good enough” is how stockpiles run dry, schedules slip and troops are left waiting. And that brings us to the deeper problem. The real danger isn’t just the age of the machines. It’s the mindset that keeps them running. Old Mindsets Don’t Win Modern Wars Here’s the uncomfortable truth: too many defense leaders are stuck in the past, clinging to the mindset that “if it runs, it’s fine.” That kind of complacency may have passed in the Cold War era, but today it’s a national liability. Studies of organizational resistance show that senior leadership in many manufacturing firms still balk at automation or process redesign, citing comfort with the way things have always been done.4 That resistance slows modernization, bottlenecks production and ultimately puts not just programs but troops, and the nation itself, at risk. Now ask yourself: • Are you one of those leaders still clinging to “good enough”? • Are your presses working harder to stay alive than to deliver

for the mission? • When the next urgent order comes, will your plant be ready to scale, or will it be the weak link everyone else is waiting on? • When your operators retire, will your production grind to a halt because you never modernized your systems? • And most importantly, if your line fails, are you prepared to explain to the warfighter why their equipment didn’t arrive on time? This isn’t about machines breaking down. It’s about leadership breaking down. And if you’re still running your plant with yesterday’s playbook, you’re the problem. And here’s why: old habits create blind spots. Leaders who cling to “if it runs, it’s fine” overlook cracks not just in equipment, but in processes and compliance. Those cracks widen until they stall programs outright. Delay is deadly, and when a press goes offline, it doesn’t just idle your line; it pushes contracts off schedule, drains stockpiles and starves the front lines of what they need. Modern contracts don’t care about excuses. The Pentagon isn’t awarding bids based on tradition or good intentions. They demand digital proof, automated reporting and surge capability. All things leaders stuck in the past simply cannot deliver. And the danger doesn’t stop there. Complacency at the top infects the entire organization. If senior management shrugs at outdated systems, the culture normalizes failure, and soon everyone is working to the lowest standard. Meanwhile, the world isn’t waiting. Allies and adversaries are modernizing with automation, data integration and precision. Every year you stall, you fall further behind. And every year you fall behind, the risk to readiness grows. “One of the biggest cultural roadblocks I’ve seen is clinging to the old mindset: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ That was the motto of Industry 3.0 — where stability and efficiency were the goals,” explained Jeff Winter, a leading voice in the world of Industry 4.0, in an article for Machinery Lubrication . “But in Industry 4.0, I like to say: ‘If it ain’t broke, digitize it anyway.’ Because today, it’s about agility, adaptability, and innovation. Things are changing too fast, and waiting for something to break before acting is a recipe for falling behind.”5 The companies pulling ahead aren’t just upgrading machines. They’re upgrading their mindset. So the bottom line, as hard as it may be to hear? The old way of thinking is every bit as dangerous as the old machines themselves. Press Downtime = Supply Chain Risk The reality of relying on presses built decades ago means that unplanned downtime becomes inevitable. Bearings seize. Controls fail. Welds crack. And unlike consumer goods, defense manufacturing doesn’t have the luxury of delay. Every missed delivery ripples outward into weapons systems sitting idle, units under-supplied and readiness degraded.

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2025 16