Marshall has secured a contract to design, build and demonstrate a containerised system to simplify logistics and accelerate deployment of aircraft and personnel for the United States Air Force (USAF). The Deployable Operations and Maintenance System (DOMS) will enable flexible repositioning and enhance access to common support equipment for aircraft, while also supporting air crews conducting rapid sorties. In line with the USAF’s Agile Combat Employment doctrine, which advocates operating across a network of remote dispersed locations, Marshall will design its containerised DOMS mission modules to be airlifted to non-permanent “contingency locations” such as small airfields at the edge of a battle area, where they can be rapidly unloaded, moved and deployed.
“DOMS is a contract that will allow Marshall to play to several key strengths, including multi-domain logistics engineering, rapidly deployable infrastructure and capability enhancement for an aircraft we have supported for nearly 60 years. We are excited to be able to provide a mobility option that is critical to Air Force needs in an ACE environment,” Bob Baxter Chief Growth Officer, Marshall said.
DOMS is primarily intended to be loaded onto and from the Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical airlifter – a design requirement that Marshall is amply qualified to meet, given its maintenance, repair, overhaul and engineering expertise on the platform since 1966. The contract leading to the DOMS project was finalised between Marshall Canada and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in April 2024, following an innovative and highly competitive procurement process that began with a white paper submission in April 2023 and progressed to a showcase stage in June 2023 coordinated through AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force.
Design will be led by Marshall’s global engineering team, with up to two proof-of-concept modules to be built and tested at Marshall Canada’s new production facility in Moncton, New Brunswick. Following delivery of the modules and supporting equipment to USAF, Marshall will conduct on-site demonstrations while developing proposals for further production. Marshall has a diverse portfolio of businesses across a range of sectors including aerospace and defence, temperature-controlled distribution, skills and training, and property. With a growing footprint across the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East, Marshall currently employs around 2,000 people.
