Leidos to Deploy AI Automation Across Pentagon Logistics System

Leidos said on October 22, 2026, that it will deploy artificial intelligence automation to streamline and accelerate the Pentagon’s asset management system under a new $95 million five-year contract awarded by the Defense Logistics Agency.

In an announcement datelined Reston, Virginia, the company said the system, known as the Enterprise Logistics Management System or ELMS, is used by more than 50 agencies to manage over 80 million items of government property valued at more than $140 billion. ELMS helps the Department of War manage and account for assets throughout their lifecycle, supporting the logistics enterprise that keeps warfighters equipped and ready.

The new contract extends two decades of Leidos support for the system. The company said it expects that improving the system’s performance will have direct benefits for military readiness, and it described the award as advancing its NorthStar 2030 strategy, delivering what the company called mission-ready defense technology for a critical logistics system.

Contract Structure and Planned Work

The award carries a total potential value of $95 million, structured as a base year followed by four option years, with performance extending through August 2031. The award also extends a longer support relationship: Leidos has supported ELMS and its predecessor, the Defense Property Accountability System, for more than 21 years.

Under the award, Leidos said it will apply AI-driven automation, cloud, and modern software development practices across the system, with the stated goals of accelerating software delivery, streamlining processes, and supporting secure and reliable ELMS operations.

“Logistics wins wars and accurate, reliable asset visibility is a cornerstone of military readiness,” said Jason McCarthy, Leidos senior vice president of Airborne & Mission Solutions. He characterized the new contract work as the company’s defense technology in action, applying modern tools to help DLA strengthen what he described as the digital backbone of defense logistics.

Earlier AI Logistics Partnership

The ELMS award follows another Leidos move into AI-enabled military logistics earlier in 2026. On July 9, 2026, the company announced a partnership with Rune Technologies built around AI-enabled predictive sustainment capabilities, intended to help military organizations anticipate logistics needs, improve resource availability, and strengthen mission readiness in contested and distributed operational environments.

That partnership combines Rune’s AI-enabled predictive logistics and sustainment mission command software with Leidos’ AI-enabled decision advantage and course-of-action generation capabilities. The companies said the pairing gives commanders a clearer picture of sustainment needs and better decision support in contested settings, where distance, time, scale, and maritime conditions in the Indo-Pacific region pose particular challenges. They described the two sets of capabilities as complementary, built to keep military operations sustained even when speed, distance, and uncertainty put readiness at risk.

“Sustaining forces across the vast distances of the Indo-Pacific requires the ability to understand logistics demand before it affects mission execution,” McCarthy said in the July announcement. He said the partnership is already delivering that kind of decision support, giving commanders better logistics visibility and increased readiness across complex and dispersed operating areas now rather than years from now.

Rune co-founder and chief executive David Tuttle said technology alone cannot solve the Indo-Pacific’s logistics challenges; in his description, prevailing there requires linking data across planning, decision-making, and execution so forces can sustain operations at speed in complex environments. He said combining Rune’s predictive logistics capabilities with Leidos’ enterprise data integration expertise is intended to put that approach in commanders’ hands.

Leidos said the Rune partnership reflects the same NorthStar 2030 strategy it cited in the ELMS announcement, with a focus on AI-enabled decision advantage, mission software, and operational readiness, an approach the company said is meant to let commanders see sustainment requirements coming before they turn into mission challenges. McCarthy was the quoted Leidos executive in both announcements.