Former DIU director cleared of ethics allegations
The decision comes more than a year after Mike Brown withdrew his nomination for DoD’s top acquisition role due to concerns over how long the investigation would take.
The decision comes more than a year after Mike Brown withdrew his nomination for DoD’s top acquisition role due to concerns over how long the investigation would take.
With high-profile platforms well known by adversaries, DIU Director Mike Brown said DoD should pay particular attention to SUMS when it comes to innovation, meaning tech that's Small, Unmanned, Many, and Smart.
"Understanding the acquisition process and having exposure to the commercial world can help to do a faster pull, rather than just being extremely frustrated by the bureaucracy internally," Heidi Shyu said.
The man charged with innovation at the Pentagon tells Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview that his office suffered from a "benign neglect" from Pentagon leadership when it came to funding.
“[N]ow we’re in a serious tech competition with China and they’re not waiting for our democratic timeframes,” DIU Director Mike Brown said. “[...] There’s a reason the US innovation ecosystem is the envy of the world and we need to make this the envy of the military."
If confirmed, Shyu and Brown will come into the Pentagon in the midst of what civilian leaders promise is a major shift: divesting old, Cold War-era equipment for new generations of AI-enabled weapons, unmanned systems, and hypersonic missiles.