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Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services says it has resolved a long-running equipment problem that threatened to disrupt its armor-cutting and demilitarization work, a mission that ensures unserviceable military gear cannot be reused for combat or exploited by adversaries. Field disposal teams rely on plasma torches to dismantle vehicles and other materiel, part of a process mandated by Congress and central to force protection because it prevents sensitive technologies from being repurposed or reverse-engineered.
The issue surfaced after the manufacturer of the agency’s plasma cutting system shut down in 2018, leaving DLA unable to source parts and struggling to integrate newer torches with its legacy armor-cutting platforms, according to Equipment Management and Training Branch Chief Tim Zweng. “We still had generators, still had our air compressor and all that, but we couldn’t get any more parts for the plasma cutter that was on the system itself,” said Heavy Equipment Specialist Bryar Courneya.
A replacement torch acquired for testing wouldn’t mesh with the existing system. “The new plasma cutter and the old system basically could not communicate correctly with each other,” he said.
Zweng said Courneya pinpointed the root cause: voltage mismatches between the legacy onboard computer and modern plasma cutters were triggering overloads that shut the system down after minutes of use. The team consulted the onboard computer’s manufacturer and, after troubleshooting, implemented a safe bypass that allowed the two components to work together.
With the workaround in place, the agency sought proof under real-world conditions. Courneya traveled to Kuwait for extended trials after shipping delays threatened schedules, even carrying a plasma cutter by hand to keep the test on track. “He ran through about 1,000 pounds of metal in Kuwait in the middle of the summer of 2025 and was able to just cut and cut and cut,” Zweng said.
Courneya reported that the new torch performs on par with the obsolete model when paired with the legacy system. Zweng said the fix extends the current fleet’s life and buys time to pursue a long-term replacement program, while avoiding an estimated $4.2 million bill to swap out 14 plasma cutting systems.
