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News | Dec. 4, 2022

DOD Scouts Innovative Ideas From Industry, Allies, Partners

By David Vergun DOD News

The Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, which was stood up last year, is a collaboration between the military services, combatant commands, industry and coalition partners with the aim of discovering new and innovative warfighting capabilities.

The idea behind this initiative is to get the best ideas, test prototypes in the laboratory and then in the field or even in contested environments, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering said.

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Heidi Shyu spoke on a panel yesterday at the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. 

The innovations that result don't need to be a 100% solution. They could be a 70 or 80% solution to solve a vexing warfighting problem, she said. 

Small companies are and will be playing a critical role in this endeavor, she said. The Office of Strategic Capital will assist in funding companies developing technologies deemed critical to national security. 

Also, the Defense Department is working with the Small Business Administration to help fund small startups, she said.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and the SBA administrator sign documents at a table.
OSC and SBA
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman sign a letter-of-intent partnering SBA and DOD's newly-established Office of Strategic Capital at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, Calif., Dec. 3, 2022.
Photo By: Chad McNeeley, DOD
VIRIN: 221203-D-TT977-0018

Shyu mentioned a number of DOD organizations focused on innovation. 

The Defense Innovation Unit is focused on accelerating the adoption of commercial technology for military use, she said. DIU awards contract to companies that have innovative solutions. 

The Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office serves to expedite critical capabilities to the field to meet combatant commanders' needs, she said. The office enables the Army to experiment, evolve and deliver technologies in real time to address both urgent and emerging threats, while supporting acquisition reform efforts.  

Each of the military research laboratories is also coming up with brilliant and innovative warfighting solutions, she said.

The department is eager to attract new talent to those labs, she said. One of the ways it's doing so is helping to fund college tuition for promising students, who then will work in one of the labs for a certain period of time. 

A sailor and students work in classroom.
STEM Class
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Sarah Thill, assigned to Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, demonstrates to students from Ke'elikolani Middle School's STEM program how to safely use tools in order to build a fully functioning remotely operated vehicle for the annual International SeaPerch Challenge in Honolulu, Nov. 17, 2022.
Photo By: Navy Chief Petty Officer Timothy Aguirre
VIRIN: 221117-N-JI215-1002

Last year, the department funded 482 scholars and is looking to increase that number, she said. 

Additionally, DOD has created science, technology, engineering and mathematics camps for high school students, she added. 

"Having a strong workforce is incredibly important," she said, noting that DOD cannot match the salaries paid in the private sector. 

Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., Air Force chief of staff, also spoke on the panel. 

"Accelerate, change or lose," he said, implying that DOD needs to stay ahead of adversaries when it comes to fielding effective capabilities. 

"We have done this before. Our nation has come together in times of crisis, to be able to provide capability. I've watched us during the course of the events in Ukraine. Some things we've been able to move very fast on in certain areas. What we want to do is not wait until there's a crisis to actually move at a pace with a sense of urgency. We've got to do some things crisis-like ahead of a crisis so we're better postured and prepared to move forward," he said.

EA-18G Growlers from the "Star Warriors" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 209 simultaneously fire two AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) during a training exercise near Guam. The AGM-88 HARM is a tactical air-to-surface missile which finds and destroys threat radar air defense systems. Supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific and operating out of Andersen Air Force Base on the "Forward Edge" while utilizing the Marianas Islands Range Complex, VAQ-209's live-fire exercise provided valuable training to ordnance personnel and aircrew alike. As the US Military's only Reserve EA-18G squadron, VAQ-209 is currently forward deployed to Japan and operating across the Indo-Pacific as the expeditionary VAQ squadron currently assigned to Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70. (U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Peter Scheu)
VAQ-209 Conducts AGM-88 HARM Live Fire Exercise
EA-18G Growlers from the "Star Warriors" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 209 simultaneously fire two AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) during a training exercise near Guam. The AGM-88 HARM is a tactical air-to-surface missile which finds and destroys threat radar air defense systems. Supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific and operating out of Andersen Air Force Base on the "Forward Edge" while utilizing the Marianas Islands Range Complex, VAQ-209's live-fire exercise provided valuable training to ordnance personnel and aircrew alike. As the US Military's only Reserve EA-18G squadron, VAQ-209 is currently forward deployed to Japan and operating across the Indo-Pacific as the expeditionary VAQ squadron currently assigned to Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70. (U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Peter Scheu)
Photo By: Cmdr. Peter Scheu
VIRIN: 220830-N-RB420-0009

Brown provided an example of innovation: The AGM-88 HARM, the High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, was originally designed as an air-to-surface missile for the F-16 fighter aircraft. The Air Force figured out how to put these missiles on the MiG-29 fighters, which Ukraine uses. 

"If someone had asked us before the Ukraine events if we could put a HARM missile on a MiG-29, we'd have said it's too hard to do. In a crisis, we figure out how to get things done," he said.