March 30, 2022

Emerging Technology Horizons: U.S Needs to Refocus on Energetic Materials [external]

The list of top defense modernization priorities that were cited in the 2018 National Defense Strategy forms the basis of our work at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Institute. An updated list of technology priorities, recently released by the office of the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, reasserted the importance of those original emerging technologies and even added a few more topics.

March 29, 2022

​DOD Acquisition Officers Will Learn to Better Acquire and Transition Commercial Technologies

The Defense Department is promoting broader use of agile acquisition methods by training acquisition professionals on the Defense Innovation Unit's acquisition process to ensure access to commercial technology, Mike Brown, DIU director, said.  

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.

March 11, 2022

Universities Selected for Research Opportunities

The Space Force announced the winners of its recently established University Consortium Research Opportunity that aims to provide undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellows with authentic research opportunities to stimulate interest within the Space Force and improve retention in STEM-related fields.

March 8, 2022

DOD Wants to Shepherd Small Business Innovators

The Defense Department needs innovation now — and too often the best new technology from America's small business innovators dies before it can become a program of record for the military.

March 7, 2022

NSWC Crane to Offer Navy Technology for Commercial Applications

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), in collaboration with The Mill, Dioltas and the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum (DEF) announced

March 7, 2022

New Pentagon Strategy to Bring in Small Businesses Coming Soon [external]

WASHINGTON ― A new Pentagon strategy to maximize small business participation in defense contracting is in the works for this spring, defense officials told Defense News. The Pentagon’s first small business strategy since 2019 would come amid a decline in the number of contracts awarded to small businesses and as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has acknowledged the barriers to work with his department are too steep.