Center for Maritime Security – As defense startups work to field new, low-cost systems at scale, the means of transporting these weapons systems to end users remains less clear. Logistics in the new distributed reality must recognize the U.S. Navy’s numerical disadvantage in the Pacific, appreciate the unsustainable infrastructure requirements for strategic airlift, and leverage an existing technology that is ready to support warfighters today. In short, the joint force must rely on one of the few quantitative advantages at its disposal: the United States’ large fleet of tiltrotor aircraft.