Unmanned Systems and the Challenge of Supply Chain Operations in Hostile Environments

Summary

This article from War on the Rocks' "Cogs of War" series addresses the critical challenge of military logistics in a potential Pacific conflict, where U.S. forces cannot rely on secure, uncontested access to supply depots and distribution networks. Host Jonathan Panter convenes a panel of defense technology experts — David Tuttle from Rune Technologies, Paul Lwin from HavocAI, and Tom Garvey from CACI — to examine how dispersed military forces can be sustained while operating under enemy fire and degraded communications. The discussion centers on the concept of the "last unmanned mile," referring to the final and most dangerous leg of supply delivery where autonomous or unmanned systems may be essential to reduce risk to human logistics personnel. The panelists debate the critical distinctions between autonomy and automation in resupply operations, explore predictive logistics capabilities, examine data sourcing challenges, and assess which battlefield lessons learned from the Ukraine conflict are transferable to the Indo-Pacific theater.