DEVCOM CBC Building the Future of On-Demand Logistics

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD – Maintaining secure and reliable supply lines that will deliver necessary materials to the warfighter is essential when it comes to equipping a more ready and lethal force. Scientists at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) have started researching how forward deployed biomanufacturing is not just a theory, but a capability the Center has made strides towards fielding in the future.

Biomanufacturing uses microorganisms to produce other chemicals or materials of interest. The process relies on synthetic biology to reprogram microorganisms to produce things like food, fuel, or pharmaceuticals. The goal for deploying biomanufacturing forward is to support Soldiers and humanitarian aid workers stationed in the furthest regions on the planet, like the Indo-Pacific region or in the Arctic. In arenas where supply chains could be possible targets, it will be critical to have the capability to strategically place production at different points in forward locations.

Realizing a vision of self-sustaining supply chains in the world's most inhospitable environments is a monumental task that requires a unique brand of expertise. Behind the push for on-demand production is a cohort of DEVCOM CBC and partner organization scientists whose diverse backgrounds mirror the complexity of the challenge itself. To understand how these logistical hurdles are being tackled, one must look to the individuals at the center of the research effort.

Dr. Brooke Ahern, the Forward Deployed Biomanufacturing Program lead, developed an interest in the project due to potential future use on a lunar base. Her background is in electrophysiology, and she looks at how the body responds when exposed to a certain agent. Ahern became fascinated by how space might change human physiology and, more specifically, how space research might aid applications in more extreme environments and benefit the Army.

Ahern notes that what sets DEVCOM CBC apart from other organizations when it comes to this effort is the people and the facilities. “We are the leading Center for biomanufacturing in the Department of War (DoW). Our experts can operate on a small scale all the way up to producing 1,000 liters of material, and they’ve truly demonstrated the capabilities biomanufacturing can do. This team has positioned us to really start thinking about the forward deployed aspect of this.”

The team relies on Dr. Anna Crumbley, a research chemical engineer at DEVCOM CBC and the biomanufacturing subject matter expert on the project. She provides technical expertise for target material production and demonstration capabilities. Crumbley specializes in chemical engineering with a research focus on synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, and industrial biotechnology. In addition to working on the forward deployed team, she also works with the team at DEVCOM CBC’s biomanufacturing pilot facility.

When trying to explain the biomanufacturing process, Crumbley compared it to brewing beer or distilling whiskey. “When brewing beer, you feed it corn or malt variations. It grows for a couple of days, and then the yeast dies and collects at the bottom of the tank where it then needs to be removed,” she explained. “It’s the same with fermentation and biomanufacturing, just with different microbes and end-target material goals.”

The team working on this initiative knows the technology works and the capabilities of biomanufacturing. The next step is to shrink the technology down to a modular device that can be deployed wherever it is needed. That is where scientists from DEVCOM CBC’s Engineering Directorate come in.

“The question that was pitched to me was ‘what if we could make a hamburger on the moon,’ but what that really means is ‘what if we could make food anywhere,’ and that’s what got me interested in this project,” said Dr. Anne Walker, a senior engineer at DEVCOM CBC and the operational lead on the forward deployed team.

Walker specializes in materials engineering, specifically working with polymers. and has a unique skillset of helping technologies transition to the warfighter. Walker has experience with both material scaling and product scaling, which has helped her figure out what is needed for forward deployed biomanufacturing. Her role is to help identify what products are needed, the manufacturing pathways to create the products, and then work backwards to identify raw materials and microbes needed for the process.

The end goal for the team is to have a “plug and play” product that can be completely customizable for the end user depending on what they need. “Basically, you’ll go to this Conex container, and you’ll have a library of materials you want to produce, then you’ll plug in the microbes needed for that material, and you’ll supply the feedstocks from the local area,” Walker explained. “We want to make this so anyone can use it and you won’t need a ton of specialization to make it work.”

While this may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, the DEVCOM CBC team has proven this capability is possible, though it takes a lot of creative minds working together to build it.

“CBC brings everyone together,” said Crumbley. “We sit in a place that encourages us to solve problems together and to tailor applications to be what we need them to be.”

The forward deployed biomanufacturing team is passionate about bringing this capability to life in a way that can benefit more than just the warfighter. While this is being developed with the DoW in mind, the reality is this can benefit many different communities.

“These modules could be dropped into areas to aid with disaster relief, or in rural communities with limited access to healthcare, to help produce food and medicine. So, while we’re focused on helping the warfighter, it’s not lost on us what implications this could have on a larger scale,” Ahern added.

The DEVCOM CBC team is using this capability’s potential impact to propel them forward. There is plenty of work to be done over the next year when it comes to prototyping, but the team is ready for the challenge.

“What attracts people to CBC is the fact that we’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves and take these big, bold ideas and turn them into a reality,” explained Dr. Peter Emanuel, the Army’s senior research scientist for bioengineering and a strong advocate for the forward deployed biomanufacturing initiative. “We’ve demonstrated that we can take these ideas, tweak them, and integrate them in a larger, more robust way.”

The first phase of the forward deployed biomanufacturing project was completed in the summer of 2025. The team compiled a report detailing what this capability can do and why it is relevant to the warfighter. The next steps include prototyping a deployable device, which the team will be working on this year. What once sounded like science fiction is set to become a reality.