AIAA DEFENSE Forum 2027

Open exclusively to SAME members. The DOD & Federal Agency Programs Briefings cover upcoming government engineering, design, construction, and environmental programs. The event also focuses on acquisition strategy and engagement with contracting representatives, flag and general officers, and other decision-makers from military-service engineering components and federal agencies.

The 2027 forum theme, “Resilience in a Changing World,” examines tools, approaches, and breakthroughs intended to strengthen resilience across aerospace, defense, and the broader engineering enterprise amid rapid technological and global change. The program combines technical sessions focused on research and technologies addressing specific problems with plenary and Forum 360 sessions on issues affecting aerospace. It serves civil, commercial, and national security sectors and connects academic, industry, and government professionals. Featured speakers include James Kenyon, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate; Daniel Hettema, Director of Digital Engineering, Modeling & Simulation at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; and Sha-Chelle Devlin Manning, Chief of Commercial Strategy at DARPA.

A professional development event for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, and the aerospace and defense industry, focused on critical concerns and challenges of joint warfare. The symposium draws speakers from the Air Force, Space Force, combatant commands, industry, and the joint force, and includes dynamic exhibits. A 2027 agenda and named speakers were not listed on the event pages reviewed.

A premier aerospace R&D forum exploring the science, technologies, and capabilities transforming aerospace. The 2027 theme, “Resilience in a Changing World,” focuses on adaptation and innovation across aerospace, defense, and the broader engineering enterprise. Featured speakers include Tim Costa, Vice President and General Manager for Industrial and Computational Engineering at NVIDIA; Kerri Phillips, Technical Director for Missiles at Hanwha Defense USA; Will Roper, Founder and CEO of Istari Digital; and Brig. Gen. Douglas P. Wickert, USAF, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Focuses on moving Indo-Pacific strategy into implementation through operational readiness, deterrence, forward force posture, alliances and partnerships, defense industrial capacity, and regional economic resilience. Themes include delivering combat power forward through speed, scale, and sustainment; coalition integration and networked deterrence; mobilizing industrial capacity; decision advantage through AI, data, and the information domain; and securing supply chains and strategic resources. Discussion topics include distributed logistics and sustainment, forward maintenance and repair, space-enabled sensing and missile defense, information-sharing and interoperability, integration of Pacific Island nations, production and repair acceleration, acquisition and contracting authorities, allied industrial capacity, private investment, operational uses of AI and data, and manufacturing and energy investments that reduce strategic vulnerabilities. The forum emphasizes operational examples, identifying barriers to execution, connecting industry and venture capital with government needs, and developing actionable recommendations for policymakers, planners, and industry.

Forum for networking and learning in the undersea warfare community, focused on requirements and developments in undersea warfare, including countering submarine and mine threats and power projection from the sea. The event is classified at the SECRET level.

The showcase focuses on manufacturing solutions for aerospace, mobility, and defense applications, with an emphasis on flexibility, speed, and adaptability. APEX Accelerators will host small-group Knowledge Bar sessions on conducting business safely and securely in the defense industry and other federal departments. The AeroDef Strategic Advisory Council curates the aerospace and defense tracks of the colocated RAPID + TCT Conference. Those tracks cover additive manufacturing applications and supporting technologies, including AI, automation, advanced materials, digital manufacturing, qualification, and inspection.

The symposium focuses on Army materiel readiness, sustainment, logistics, acquisition, modernization, and the defense industrial base. Its stated themes include logistics, maintenance, supply, and lifecycle management; accelerating capability development and integrating emerging technologies; and partnerships among Army organizations, government, industry, and academia. Programming is described as strategic discussions and professional development centered on acquisition, experimentation, readiness, and modernization. The event is open to interested parties, subject to AUSA’s stated identifiable-relationship criteria and its right to deny admission or cancel registration.

The forum focuses on the Army Aviation Roadmap and the industrial base, sustainment, and acquisition. Its program includes discussion of Army transformation and the organic industrial base, with opportunities for briefings involving project managers, Army aviation transformation and future-capability leaders, original equipment manufacturers, and other industry leaders. Professional sessions address the industrial base, the Army Aviation Roadmap, sustainment and the organic industrial base, acquisition, integration of the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Maneuver Air portfolio, force modernization, the operating environment, the Pentagon landscape, and future warfighting concepts. Exhibit-hall open-mic panels cover cargo; attack and reconnaissance; utility aircraft; uncrewed aircraft systems; next-generation command and control; AMCOM sustainment; counter-drone systems; aviation mission systems and architecture; tactical aviation and ground munitions; and MV-75 Cheyenne opportunities.

The program aligns U.S. military priorities, executive-order implementation, congressional funding, acquisition pathways, industrial-base capacity, and operational requirements for uncrewed systems. Sessions address defense acquisition reform; FY27 funding and investment signals; the Drone Dominance Program; domestic manufacturing capacity and supply-chain resilience; small-business pathways into defense markets; and export markets, financing, and export controls. Other themes include Army and Air Force autonomy fielding, congressional oversight, lessons from Ukraine, maritime security, undersea infrastructure, and scaling uncrewed surface and undersea systems. The program identifies Executive Orders 14265, 14268, 14307, 14372, and 14415 among the policy frameworks discussed. Featured speakers include Admiral Thomas Allan, Jr., Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; William Kimmitt, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; and Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering and Department of War Chief Technology Officer. Registration is restricted to U.S. citizens and citizens of allied or partner nations; the event is closed to media.