Evolving the Defense S&T Program to Support “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense”

 History has shown that science and technology is a force multiplier and can be leveraged to produce new or enhanced military capabilities.  The identification of which capabilities will be required to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing global security environment and which technologies will enable development of these capabilities is becoming increasingly important, especially during the time of a declining Defense budget.

The U.S. Military has concluded operations in Iraq and will significantly reduce its presence in Afghanistan over the next 2 years.  In the recently published "Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense," U.S. Armed Forces are directed to rebalance operational forces from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Asia-Pacific region and develop the capability to "Project Power Despite Anti-access/Area Denial Challenges."  This direction supports the national desire to provide a secure environment in the Asia-Pacific region that will encourage economic prosperity. The DoD S&T program will play a critical role in developing the enabling technologies for the required military capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region and the challenges associated with anti-access/area denial.

The challenges associated with irregular warfare and counter-insurgency operations that the U.S. Military encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan are not likely to go away.  The conventional military capabilities that were developed during the Cold War surprised many state and non-state actors when they were employed during the Gulf War with amazing effectiveness.  Advanced technologies gave the U.S. Military advantages in surveillance, precision targeting, communications, and navigation.  The advent of information-based warfare feed the emergence of irregular and insurgency warfare by non-state actors.   Irregular warfare and counter-insurgency operations will remain the doctrine of choice for potential adversaries and the U.S. Military must prepare for this threat.  It is anticipated that small units specializing in innovative, low-cost, and small-footprint operations will have increased utility in irregular warfare and counter-insurgency operations.  Selecting the right irregular warfare/counter-insurgency capabilities is a critical first step in determining which technologies should receive investment priority.

U.S. Armed Forces have frequently been called upon to conduct humanitarian and disaster relief operations, both at home and abroad.  Our military possesses rapidly deployable capabilities including airlift and sealift, medical evacuation and care, surveillance, and communications that can provide great assistance to relief agencies, tasked with providing aid to victims of natural or man-made disasters.  The application of “soft power” can often be more effective in achieving national security goals than the application of “hard power.”  The Department should identify those technologies, contracted for or commercially available, that will provide new and enhanced capabilities to support this mission. 

At this year's conference the Services and Combatant Commands will describe what capabilities will likely be needed for the Joint Force to be successful in the evolving global security environment, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.  Additionally, OSD, the Services, and Agencies will present their priorities for focusing technology initiatives, while maintaining the balance between conventional and irregular warfare/counter-insurgency capabilities.  Given the realities to also reduce lifecycle costs, Service and Agency speakers will discuss which technologies must be matured in the near term and the future. They will also highlight areas of synergy across technology disciplines which can be mined to maintain operational effectiveness during reduced budget years.