{"id":34925,"date":"2022-01-24T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/24\/the-forge-software-factory-is-in-need-of-stable-resourcing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:07:06","slug":"the-forge-software-factory-is-in-need-of-stable-resourcing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2022\/01\/24\/the-forge-software-factory-is-in-need-of-stable-resourcing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Forge software factory is in need of stable resourcing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What\u2019s it like to lead the largest software organization on the planet? A recent resignation letter<\/a> of the U.S. Air Force\u2019s chief tech officer sums up the damning outlook:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cunempowered to fix basic IT issues; still using outdated water-agile-fall acquisition principles to procure services and talent; leaders are not aligned with \u2026 pursuing agility [or the] continuous delivery of capabilities; \u2026 and we have almost no shared repositories and little to no collaboration across [military] services.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s little wonder then that those toiling away at The Forge<\/a>, a Navy software factory, are fighting to get traction (read: attention and sustained funding) in Pentagon bureaucracy. Congress needs to snatch victory from the jaws of technological defeat by committing to stable resourcing and leadership support for the solutions this capability generates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last May, The Forge delivered updates to some of the oldest ships in the fleet \u2014 Aegis cruisers \u2014 while one was at sea<\/a>. This remarkable and long overdue achievement improved the ship\u2019s planning capabilities and cybersecurity. The ability to conduct such remote updates is a huge breakthrough for the fleet and service writ large. At the highest level, this technological advancement and others from The Forge stand poised to both harden ships and make them more capable \u2014 two key priorities for the service as it readies ships to operate in more contested waters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software factories across the U.S. military are intended to build and train groups of software creators to develop and rapidly roll out new digital tools, and improve on them after release. The Forge is certainly not the only organization that aims to improve how software is delivered across the Navy, the Army and the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But The Forge is unique as the Navy\u2019s primary effort to prototype a software factory in Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems. As such, the team will be a key enabler of the Navy\u2019s forcewide integrated combat system, along with driving closer work between the office and a variety of industry partners. If The Forge\u2019s success continues, it will generate more solutions for the Navy at a time when rapidly delivering more combat capabilities to ships is only gaining importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\t