At the American Aerospace and Defense Summit held recently in Arizona, one of the biggest themes was supply chain resiliency. Where are the materials on which US industry relies coming from? How are they being sourced, transported and secured?
Today, the global manufacturing landscape is highly uneven. Different countries specialize in different components, and a significant share of critical manufacturing capacity has shifted to China, a country that is not a US ally but that nevertheless sits at the center of many essential supply chains.
Concern about this situation is growing in line with the realization that we need to strengthen and protect the US industrial base. In the near term, that means working more closely with allies and nearshoring key production. In the long term, it means strategically reshoring manufacturing capacity that is critical for national security and economic stability.
Over the last several decades, manufacturing in the US has gradually dispersed due to offshoring, trade liberalization and cost-driven decisions made over many years. And as we discussed in a previous post, this erosion is also affecting domain knowledge.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US had 410,000 open manufacturing jobs as of October this year. Deloitte projects that the US will face around 1.9 million open manufacturing roles by 2033. This shortage will significantly constrain efforts to reshore and rebuild domestic production capacity.
At the same time, automation adoption is not keeping pace with demand. The International Federation of Robotics reported a 9 percent drop in US robot installations in 2024. This highlights a troubling mismatch. Manufacturers urgently need automation to address their labor shortages, but current solutions remain too slow, too costly or too rigid for widespread adoption.
Reversing this trend has become an imperative, and it requires smarter automation. This does not mean robots replacing humans. It means robots working with humans, taking on repetitive or precision-critical tasks so people can focus on oversight, troubleshooting and system optimization. In practice, automation enables skilled workers to build more, faster and with consistent quality.
All this matters because speed and flexibility have become strategic requirements. Whether it is consumer goods or national security systems, the United States cannot afford supply chains that are fragile or dependent on geopolitical rivals. Understanding the scale of this vulnerability is essential. Supply chain resiliency is no longer just an economic issue. It’s a national security imperative.
