The Pentagon logo, after some technical difficulties. (Graphic by Breaking Defense)
WASHINGTON: In a push to address critical joint warfighting capability gaps across the military, the Pentagon is seeking at least $377 million over the next five years to fund its rapid experimentation efforts.
The Defense Department’s fiscal 2023 request includes $70 million for the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, the Pentagon’s new initiative to address capability gaps identified by combatant commanders and facilitate prototyping to support joint warfighting concepts. DoD in FY22 requested $34 million to kickstart initial RDER efforts.
Of the total RDER request, $48.5 million will go towards supporting Joint Warfighting Concept Experiments in areas like advanced fires, command and control, information advantage and contested logistics. The request also includes $10 million to establish a RDER “exercise coordination and execution cell” that will “include liaisons and planners at the combatant commands,” budget documents state.
“Services, agencies, and other participating organization are to identify ‘best of breed’ capabilities developed among DoD prototyping programs, and execute approved projects through large-scale experiments in order to refine and/or validate the Joint Warfighting Concept (JWC),” according to budget documents. “Organizations are to nominate proposals to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) that are multi-component — involving joint services, international partners and/or other government agencies.”
Undersecretary of Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, whose office is spearheading the RDER effort, previously told reporters she plans to focus on 32 initial technology projects in the first “sprint” of the initiative planned for FY23. She wants to conduct two demonstrations per year to allow industry to make changes or upgrade their prototypes.
The Pentagon is already in the planning stages of the second sprint of RDER planned in FY24, Shyu said in March. She added the demonstration will focus on contested logistics, an area that her office is increasingly focusing on in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Looking at the logistics problems the Russians are having. It’s a contested logistics environment. It’s not even that contested — it could be a lot more contested, a lot more difficult. So we truly want to focus on that area,” she said.
In addition to RDER, DoD also wants $109.2 million for its Rapid Prototyping Program aimed at helping push technologies across the infamous “valley of death” where promising new technologies fail to transition into full-scale acquisition programs. In FY22, DoD requested $103.3 for the Rapid Prototyping Program, up from $89.3 million the previous year.
The FY23 budget documents also reflect the Pentagon’s shift toward prioritizing AI with several amounts of funding requested for the new chief digital artificial intelligence office: $273.34 million for AI/machine learning demonstration and validation, $33.95 million in intelligence support and $76.79 million for the AI and Data Accelerator effort.
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With the AI and Data Accelerator, the Pentagon is sending operational data teams and teams of technical experts to the military’s 11 combatant commands to help them understand the data they use to make decisions and create AI tools to streamline decision-making.
The effort involves key Pentagon agencies like the Joint AI Center, which is developing a joint operating system for COCOMs to build and field AI algorithms rapidly, as well as all of the military services.
“As effective solutions are developed in one CCMD, they will be made available across the enterprise for further development and implementation” according to the budget documents. “ADA is not solely focused on capability delivery, but designed to address both materiel and non-materiel challenges to data management. ADA discovery efforts across a range of capability areas include workforce development, acquisition practices, software modernization, IT infrastructure, and outdated processes are included. The ADA team will provide recommendations to the CDAO, JADC2 partners and other governance bodies as appropriate.”
