Pioneers of Progress highlights the many different ways to be a trailblazer, and how our engineers are exploring new avenues of thought through innovative approaches to the work they do each day.Īs part of our Pioneers of Progress series, we present the highlights of some of our engineers who employ their innovative spirit and vivid imagination to bring capabilities to our customers and their missionsįor our first story, we sat down with senior research engineer Michael Vogt, in Bloomington, Minnesota, who is leading a team focused on providing cutting-edge autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities. The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Administrator, Defense Technical Information Center, assess and determine whether the DTIC IR&D database should require contractors to include additional information on IR&D projects, such as: (a) The IR&D project's linkage, if any, to DOD's modernization priorities (b) The allowable category (basic research, applied research, technology development, or concept study) to which the IR&D project belongs (c) The nature of the project as either potentially disruptive or potentially incremental research and development and (d) The actual IR&D project costs when the project is completed.Encouraging and challenging our engineers to explore the edge of the possible helps make General Dynamics Mission Systems an industry leader in innovative, smart solutions for our Nation and our allies. On July 17, 2023, USD(R&E) officials stated that they plan to start reviewing the IR&D instruction during the following week and expect to issue a revised IR&D instruction by the December 2023 estimated completion date. However, in January 2023, USD(R&E) officials updated the plan with a new estimated completion date of December 2023. The plan stated that a draft instruction had been completed and was going through coordination, with an expected completion date of June 2022. In March 2022, USD(R&E) officials provided a corrective action plan, which stated that DOD is working to revise its IR&D instruction in response to our recommendation. While DOD is not required to review independent R&D projects to understand how they support DOD’s priorities, GAO analysis showed 38 percent of industry projects aligned with DOD’s priorities.ĭOD concurred with this recommendation stating that USD(R&E) will investigate and revise its IR&D Instruction to require annual review of defense industry IR&D investments. Disruptive projects carry higher risk of failure but offer possible significant rewards in the long term. The database does not include whether a project is a lower-risk, incremental development or a more innovative “disruptive” technology. The database does not capture a project’s complete cost, which could help DOD understand cost implications of future related work. The department uses those priorities to make decisions about R&D investments. Contractors do not identify whether a project aligns with any of 10 modernization priorities. As a result, DOD risks making decisions about its multi-billion dollar science and tech investments that could duplicate work or miss opportunities to fill in gaps that the contributions of private industry do not cover.ĭOD has a database of independent R&D projects, but it is not very useful for informing investment decisions because DOD does not obtain information in these and other areas: Key TakeawaysĭOD does not know how contractors’ independent R&D projects fit into the department’s technology goals. More information about those projects could help DOD guide its own R&D investments. military reassert its technological edge.Ĭontractors decide what independent R&D projects to conduct and the Department of Defense (DOD) reimburses them about $4 billion-$5 billion annually. Research and development (R&D) projects in high-tech areas like cybersecurity and biotechnology can help the U.S.
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