In the fall of 2005, for example, a Marine Corps Boeing F/A-18D Hornet belonging to All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 332 blew a tire while accelerating down the decaying runway at Al Asad airbase in western Iraq. With a new tire plus a new wing to replace one damaged by flying debris, the Hornet was soon back in service.

Traditionally, units such as 332 carry large stocks of replacement tires with them when they deploy. But these items are bulky, unwieldy and can slow down a unit considerably as it tries to keep up with rapidly evolving operation. To reduce on-hand stores and make forces more nimble, Lockheed Martin is expanding an organization that facilitates "just-in-time" delivery of replacement tires to the U.S. military.

"Just-in-time" means a customer electronically requests a product for fast direct air shipment from a central warehouse; it's just one of several commercial practices that began in the civilian sector and have begun to revolutionize military logistics.

At the $10-million Lifetime Supply Command Center in Moores town, New Jersey, just one full-time employee manages tire orders for the entire Navy aviation fleet, ensuring that manufacturers such as Michelin deliver the requested tire on time. In the five years that Lockheed Martin has held the Navy contract, the center has lost track of only one tire, according to director Larry Bigaj. He adds that 95 percent of tires reach the customer in four days or fewer.

Last week, Lockheed Martin and Michelin signed a contract with the Department of Defense to oversee tires for Army and Air Force aircraft, too, meaning significantly more work for this money-saving organization. Savings come from reduced need for warehouses and less bulk shipping of redundant tires. Demand forecasting lets the center grow or reduce tire holdings with confidence. For instance, Bigaj says, the center drew down F-14 fighter tire stocks so that it had just a few on hand when the last operational F-14 completed its final sortie last year.

Similar streamlining is underway at military logistics facilities worldwide. Last year, at Al Taqqadum air base in western Iraq, a former Iraqi MiG base that's now a Marine Corps supply hub, Navy Lieutenant Commander Jeff Giles ordered materials and tools for a large force of Navy construction workers -- the famed Seabees -- that build and maintain forward bases for combat forces. Giles kept minimal stores on hand and counted on the U.S. Air Force -- or, in a pinch, shipping firms such as Fedex and DHL -- to get things to him fast. Bigaj says that his center92s just-in-time logistics management has saved the Pentagon millions of dollars annually. And with the center assuming responsibility for thousands of Army and Air Force aircraft, as well, those savings will grow.