This publication appeared previously in Defense News and C4Sir.
In spite of the clear and present danger of threats from China and in other places, there is no agreement on what types of adversaries we will face; How we will fight, organize and train; And what weapons or systems we will need for future fights. Instead, developing a new doctrine to deal with these new problems is full of disagreements, differential and owner objectives that defend the status quo. However, the change in military doctrine is approaching. The Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, is sailing for the tightrope of competitive interests so that this happens, hopefully in time.
From the left, the CEO of Skydio, Adam Bry, demonstrates the company’s autonomous systems technology for Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Doug Beck, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, last a visit to the company’s facilities to San Mateo, California (Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza/US Navy)
There are several theories about how innovation in military doctrine and new operational concepts occur. Some argue that a new doctrine arises when civilians intervene to help military “mavericks”, for example, the Goldwater-Nichols law. Or a military service can generate innovation internally when the senior military officials recognize the doctrinal and operational implications of the new capacities, for example, Rickver and the nuclear army.
But today, innovation in doctrine and concepts is promoted by four main external Presentations that simultaneously threaten our military and economic advantage:
- China delivering multiple asymmetric compensation strategies.
- China Fielding Naval, Space and Aerial Assets in unprecedented numbers.
- The proven value of a massive number of attenuated systems incessantly on the Ukrainian battlefield.
- Fast technological change in artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber, space, biotechnology, semiconductors, hypergony, etc., with many driven by commercial companies in the United States and China.
The need for change
Traditional innovation sources of the United States Department of Defense (Prices, FFDC, Service Laboratories) are no longer enough for themselves to maintain rhythm.
The speed, depth and amplitude of these disruptive changes occur faster than the response capacity and agility of our current acquisition systems and the industrial defense base. However, in the decade an external threats, the doctrine, the organization, the culture, the process and the tolerance of the DOD, mainly operated as if they did not need anything substantial to change.
The result is that the DOD has world -class people and organizations for a world that no longer exists.
Is that the DOD does not know how to innovate on the battlefield. In Iraq and Afghanistan, innovative organizations promoted by the crisis appeared, such as the agency to defeat joint improvisation and rapid equipment of the army. And armed services have overlooked their own desktop Cracy through the creation of rapid capacities offices. Even today, the security assistance group quickly offers weapons.
Unfortunately, these efforts are together and ephemeral, disappearing when the immediate crisis ends. They rarely make a permanent change in the DOD.
BU last year, several significant signs of change show that the Department of Defense takes the change of how it operates and the radical review of its doctrine, concepts and weapons.
First, the Defense Innovation Unit rose to inform the Secretary of Defense. Previously he had a budget of $ 35 million and buried within the research and engineering organization, their budget and report structure were signs of how little the importance of commercial innovation saw the DOD.
Now, with Diu rescued from the dark, its new director Doug Beck presides over the deputy’s innovation management group, which excessively defense efforts to present high -tech capabilities quickly to address urgent operational problems. Diu also put the staff in the Navy and the US Indo-Pacific Command. UU. To discover the real urgent needs.
In addition, the Chamber Assignments Committee indicated the importance of IUD with a fiscal budget of 2024 or $ 1 billion to finance these efforts. And the Navy has pointed out, through the creation of the Office of Disruptive Capacity, which intends to fully participate with IUD.
In addition, Deputy Secretary of Defense Hicks announced the Replicator initiative, aimed at deploying thousands of attractive autonomous systems (that is, drones, air, water and submarine) in the next 18 to 24 months. The initiative is the first proof of the capacity of the Deputy Innovation Management Group to offer autonomous systems to the warriors at speed and scale while decomposing the organizational barriers. Duu will work with new companies to address anti-access/area denial problems.
Replicator is a fundamental Harbinger or doctrinal changes, as well as a solid signal for the industrial defense base that the Department of Defense takes seriously the acquisition of components faster, cheaper and with a shorter useful life.
Finally, in the recent Reagan National Defense Forum, the world felt that it puts up legs. The Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, spoke about DiU in his opening speech and arrived in Reagan immediately after a visit to his headquarters in Silicon Valley, where he with innovative companies. In many panels, high -ranking officers and senior defense officials used the words “interruption”, “innovation”, “speed” and “urgency” so many times, indicating that they really said and wanted it.
At the audience there were a lot of risk financing leaders and private capital that seek ways to build companies that provide innovative capacities with speed.
Conspicted, unlike previous years, the sponsoring banners at the conference were not the main holders, but rather insurgents, new main potentials such as Palantir and Anduril. The Department of Defense has woken up. He has realized that new and growing threats require rapid change, or we may not prevail in the next conflict.
Change is difficult, as special in military doctrine. (Ask the Marines). The titular suppliers are not silent at night, and the new suppliers almost always underestimate the difficulty and complexity of a task. Existing organizations defend their budget, personnel and authority. The saboteators of the organization resist change. But adversaries do not expect our decades plans.
But you can do more
- Congress and military services can support the change by fully finance the Replicator initiative and the Defense Innovation Unit.
- The services do not have an acquisition budget for replicator, and will have to change existing funds to unmanned and AI programs.
- The DOD must convert its new innovation process into real and substantive orders for new companies.
- And other combatant commands must follow what Indopacom is doing.
- In addition, defense prices should be more frequently associated with new companies.
The change is in the air. The Deputy Secretary of Defense Hicks is building a coalition of the willingness to do so.
We hope it will happen on time.
Filed in: Corporate/Governmental Innovation, National Security |