March 29, 2022

Pentagon's Largest Ever RDT&E Budget Request Reflects AI Prioritization [external]

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is requesting its largest ever budget for research and development, with heavy investments in artificial intelligence and technology in its fiscal 2023 budget request. The Defense Department’s $773 billion FY23 budget request includes $130.1 billion in research, development, test and evaluation funding, representing a 9.5% increase over FY22 levels, according to budget briefing slides. Michael McCord, under secretary of defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer, told Breaking Defense today DoD is “still arm wrestling the database” about the exact amount of requested funding for AI in FY23.

March 22, 2022

DoD Acquisition Nominee Pledges to Push Advanced Tech, Small Business Opportunities [external]

WASHINGTON — The nominee to be the Pentagon’s next acquisition chief has a simple message when it comes to developing advanced technologies such as hypersonics: Don’t be afraid to fail, and learn from those failures. “A failed test is one where you don’t learn,” Bill LaPlante told the Senate Armed Services Committee in his nomination hearing to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment Tuesday.

March 21, 2022

Wearable Sensors May Be Future Option for Assessing Toxin Exposures

The Defense Department, military services and Veterans Affairs are doing a lot now to assess the effects of airborne hazards, including open burn pits, on the health of current and veteran service members who may have been exposed while deployed overseas in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

March 15, 2022

Inaugural Hybrid Department of Defense 6.1 Basic Research Conference

The Basic Research Office is hosting its first inaugural Hybrid Department of Defense (DoD) 6.1 Basic Research Conference on 6-9 Sept 2022 at the Basic Research Innovation Collaboration Center (BRICC) in Arlington, VA. This conference is aimed at providing a forum for expanding information exchange between 6.1 researchers across all DoD laboratories and warfare centers.