Machina Labs tackles military challenges with new tech: Weapons and Warfare

Apr 24, 2024 at 03:00 AM CDT

Meet the Southern California startup, Machina Labs, that could change the game for the military’s billion-dollar parts problem. — Image credit: Boeing

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In this episode of Weapons and Warfare, meet the Southern California startup that could change the game for the military’s billion-dollar parts problem. Host Ryan Robertson visits with one of the leaders at Machina Labs to see how its tech could be the answer to many issues facing military maintainers.

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Also featured in this episode:

Israel strikes back at Iran, increasing tensions in the Middle East and with allies.
New details on a congressional aid package and the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine.
Deployment delayed: Why a Navy amphibious assault ship turned back.
And a small, but powerful, piece of tech is our weapon of the week.

You can subscribe to the Weapons and Warfare podcast on your chosen platform here.

Ryan Robertson is the anchor of the Straight Arrow News video podcast Weapons and Warfare. He wore many hats in his career — from photographer to news director — and firmly believes honest journalism will save our Republic.

Tags: Iran, Israel, Navy, U.S. Congress, Ukraine, Ukraine aid, War

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ‘WEAPONS AND WARFARE’, FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M RYAN ROBERTSON.
WE’VE GOT A GREAT LINEUP OF STORIES FOR YOU THIS WEEK.
WE VISIT WITH A STARTUP THAT COULD HELP THE MILITARY SOLVE ITS BILLION DOLLAR PARTS PROBLEM.
PLUS WE’RE TAKING A LOOK AT SOME NEXT LEVEL RADAR TECH THAT CAN PREDICT LIGHTNING BEFORE IT STRIKES.
AND WE GET AN UPDATE ON THE NAVY’S NEXT GEN AIR REFUELER FROM THE FOLKS RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING IN THE AIR.

BUT FIRST, SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED.

AFTER A LARGELY UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK BY IRAN ON APRIL 13, ISRAEL RESPONDED AND SENT A MESSAGE TO TEHRAN, BUT NOT IN A WAY ISRAEL’S ALLIES, NOR A MAJORITY OF ITS CITIZENS, REALLY LIKED.

AFTER TAKING OUT CLOSE TO 300 DRONES, BALLISTIC MISSILES, AND CRUISE MISSILES WITH THE HELP OF THE U.S., BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND JORDAN,
ISRAEL RESPONDED NEARLY A WEEK LATER WITH A STRIKE ON AN IRANIAN AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM IN CENTRAL IRAN. THE IRANIAN REGIME SAYS THE STRIKE ON THE RUSSIAN-MADE RADAR AND MISSILE LAUNCHERS DIDN’T HAPPEN… THE ISRAELIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY BEG TO DIFFER.

IT’S ANOTHER LAYER TO AN ALREADY INCREDIBLY TENSE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST WHERE ISRAEL IS UNDER IMMENSE SCRUTINY, FOR THE CONTINUED ASSAULT ON HAMAS IN GAZA. AN ASSAULT THAT CRITICS SAY CREATED A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS AND A MOUNTAIN OF GLOBAL PRESSURE ON ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU TO EASE UP ON HIS OFFENSIVE ASSAULT.

WHILE ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING THE U.S. CONGRESS PASSED AN AID BILL FOR ISRAEL AND UKRAINE AMONG OTHER ALLIED PARTNERS.

$61 BILLION OF THE $95 BILLION PACKAGE IS HEADED TO UKRAINE, MARKING THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL AID FROM THE U.S. SINCE 2022.

IN ADDITION TO THE AID PACKAGE–UKRAINE’S F-16S WILL BE ARRIVING IN COUNTRY SOON TOO. ONCE THE FOURTH GEN FIGHTER JETS FROM NORWAY, DENMARK, AND THE NETHERLANDS DO ARRIVE, THEY WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH QUOTE LONGER-RANGE STRIKE CAPABILITIES, END QUOTE.

THAT’S ACCORDING TO NORWEGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ESPEN BARTH EIDE (ES-PIN BARTH IDE), SPEAKING IN UKRAINE.

WHILE HE WAS MUM ON THE NUMBER OF F-16s DESTINED FOR UKRAINE,

HE DID SAY IT WAS ‘A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER’.

ALSO NOT PROVIDED, AN EXPECTED DELIVERY DATE.

HOWEVER, IN MARCH, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER MARK RUTTE (MAARK ROO-TAH) AGREED TO SPEED UP THE JET’S DELIVERY TO UKRAINE.

AND BAD NEWS FOR THE USS BOXER.

JUST DAYS AFTER THE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP SET SAIL FOR A DEPLOYMENT TO THE INDO-PACIFIC… IT WAS FORCED TO MAKE A U-TURN AND HEAD BACK TO SAN DIEGO.

A STATEMENT FROM THE THIRD FLEET SAID THE WASP CLASS ASSAULT SHIP WAS RETURNING FROM IT’S FIRST DEPLOYMENT IN FIVE YEARS FOR “ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE IN SUPPORT OF ITS DEPLOYMENT”.

THIS IS THE LATEST SETBACK FOR THE SHIP WHICH HAS BEEN PLAGUED BY MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS SINCE RETURNING TO THE FLEET FROM A $200 MILLION OVERHAUL THAT STARTED IN 2020.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE U-S MILITARY IS AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF MODERNIZATION IN MANY WAYS, BUT IT STILL DEPENDS ON PIECES OF EQUIPMENT THAT ARE MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY OLD…AND THAT’S SIMPLY BECAUSE THOSE PLATFORMS STILL WORK. LONG LIVE THE BUFF (B-52)!

BUT WHEN THOSE SYSTEMS BREAK DOWN AND NEED REPAIR, GETTING THE PARTS CAN BE A PROBLEM.

THE INTRODUCTION OF 3-D PRINTING HELPED, BUT IT’S NOT A CURE-ALL. THE AIR FORCE THINKS IT MAY HAVE FOUND AN ANSWER TO ITS REPLACEMENT PARTS PROBLEM IN A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STARTUP.

{MACHINE SOUNDS}

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THAT ANSWER IS CALLED THE ROBOTIC CRAFTSMAN, BUILT BY MACHINA LABS. IT’S NOT A 3-D PRINTER…MORE OF A 3-D SHAPER, IT USES ESSENTIALLY ROBOT FINGERS TO FORM PARTS OUT OF SHEET METAL. IT ISN’T LIMITED TO SHAPING JUST ONE KIND OF PART, THOUGHT. THE CRAFTSMAN CAN SHAPE COUNTLESS CONFIGURATIONS. MIKE POLLINO, THE V-P OF PRODUCT AT MACHINA LABS, SAYS THAT’S A BIG DEAL WHEN YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING A UNIT MAY ONLY NEED ONE OR TWO OF A YEAR.

[MIKE POLLINO]

“We call it the robotic craftsman very intentionally. You know, throughout history, metal craftsmen had this like almost unlimited agility, they could pick up a different tool, learn a new craft, and make something new. So maybe a helmet one day, a shield the next day, a tea kettle, the day after that. So in the modern manufacturing context, we needed a lot more scale. So we got rid of all that agility in favor for a fixed tooling that would help us stamp out like many, many, many parts,”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR THE CREWS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING AND REPAIRING THE ENTIRE ARRAY OF VEHICLES AT THE MILITARY’S DISPOSAL THE ROBOTIC CRAFTSMAN CAN BE A GAME-CHANGER. DRASTICALLY REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF TIME ANY GIVEN PLATFORM IS OUT OF SERVICE.

[MIKE POLLINO]

“With our system, we’re seeing one-week lead times for parts where previously you might have nine-month 10 Month 12 month lead times for a single sheet metal part to repair or repair an airplane.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THEY KNOW THIS BECAUSE THEY’RE ALREADY SEEING THE RESULTS. IN NOVEMBER OF 2023 MACHINA LABS INSTALLED ONE OF THEIR SYSTEMS AT WARNER ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE IN GEORGIA. ROBINS IS HOME TO THE AIR MATERIEL COMMAND’S LOGISTICS COMPLEX. THEY PROVIDE EVERYTHING FROM PARTS AND PIECES TO ENGINES AND MISSILES. SO HAVING SOMETHING THAT CAN IN JUST A FEW DAYS REPLACE A PART THAT HASN’T BEEN MADE FOR DECADES IS REVOLUTIONARY.

[MIKE POLLINO]

“They’ve been really amazing partners. They’re absolutely leading the charge in new techniques and sustainment. So they’ve helped us collect requirements and been good thought partners and also just generally helped fund some of the R&D which is really important to us.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IF YOU’RE WONDERING HOW IMPORTANT, A REPORT BY DEFENSE ONE SAYS THE AIR FORCE IS ASKING FOR $1.5 BILLION FOR PARTS ALONE IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. ADD TO THAT THE LOOMING THREATS OF RUSSIA AND CHINA AND THE NEED TO GET THIS KIND OF TECHNOLOGY TO CREWS IN THE FIELD BECOMES EVEN MORE IMPORTANT.

[MIKE POLLINO]

“Our current version of the system actually folds up into a standard shipping container format, and can be deployed anywhere by rail or by plane. So being forward being in contested environments, being able to inspect and then reproduce parts that maybe go through battle damage is a big part of our mission.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]
ALL RIGHT, FOLKS, IT’S TIME ONCE AGAIN FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND THIS WEEK, WE HAVE AN ENTRY THAT’S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. WE’RE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT HONEYWELL’S RDR 7000 WEATHER RADAR. AND WITH ME TO KIND OF DISCUSS THIS, BREAK IT DOWN, EVERYTHING THAT IT MEANS IS ADAM GAVRICH WITH HONEYWELL. ADAM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
[Adam Gavrich, Honeywell Senior Technical Sales Manager]
Thank you, appreciate the opportunity.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
SO RDR 7000 WEATHER RADAR, MAYBE THE MOST ADVANCED RADAR THAT YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN CONTACT WITH?
[Adam Gavrich, Honeywell Senior Technical Sales Manager]
AS FAR AS WEATHER INTERESTED CONCERN IS DEFINITELY BEST IN CLASS. So this radar is designed to be used on everything from helicopters to fixed-wing aircraft. And it’s really designed to detect significant weather so that crews can avoid it and keep their flight safe and efficient.
What’s really unique about this radar is number one, its size. So, we can do a host of very advanced functions as far as weather detection is concerned and just using the single unit, so it’s very easy to install an aircraft. The other very special feature of this is that it’s continuously scanning. So traditional radars, the crews have to manually control the radar tilt to get a good picture. This is continuously scanning the volume of sky in front of the aircraft and then we have some very special algorithms that analyze that and intuitively display to the crew the most significant weather.
So it’s going to reduce their workload in the cockpit again, let them focus more on flying the aircraft rather than trying to operate radar. When it comes to hazard features. It does some very unique things as well. We can predict lightning five to 10 minutes in advance using what we call a reflectivity analysis.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
FIVE TO TEN MINUTES IN ADVANCE?
[Adam Gavrich, Honeywell Senior Technical Sales Manager]
Five to ten minutes in advance. And we actually will, on top of the radar returns, put symbology showing where that late at night and where that lightning is predicted to be so that the crews can avoid those areas. It’s very important, for helicopters especially, to avoid the lightning. We can also detect hail and predict turbulence out to 60 nautical miles. So those are really the core radar features from a weather perspective and the helicopter market.
One very, very unique feature that no one else is really doing is we have a maritime surveillance function. So this radar in a certain mode can actually be used for search and rescue operations and oil and gas operations to pick up vessels and oil rigs on the ocean and display those on the returns as well. So, you know, in the military space, you know, our search and rescue type operations and operators, they find that very, very valuable, especially since again, it’s all right here in one radar.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE, ARE YOU ABLE TO POTENTIALLY PUT THIS ON, YOU KNOW, ATTRIBUTABLE AIRCRAFT OR LIKE SMALLER UAVS AT SOME POINT?
[Adam Gavrich, Honeywell Senior Technical Sales Manager]
Absolutely. Yeah, so the whole assembly weighs about 15 pounds. This is a 12-inch antenna. We offer bigger antennas, but they’re on certain class UAVs we can absolutely put this weather radar on and get that get that situational awareness for the for the operators.
[RYAN ROBERTSON]
RIGHT. SOUNDS GOOD. ADAM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. AND THAT WILL DO IT FOR THIS EDITION OF WEAPON OF THE WEEK. AND THE REASON WHY WE DID THIS, GUYS, IS BECAUSE THE WARFIGHTERS, THEY NEED TO BE SAFE. OTHERWISE THEIR WEAPONS ARE GOING TO BE USELESS.

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