• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

STATEMENT BY
RONALD SEGA
DIRECTOR OF DEFENSE RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING

BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, UNCONVENTIONAL THREATS AND CAPABILITIES
HOUSE ARMED SERVICE COMMITTEE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 27, 2003

   

Introduction

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to talk about transformation and the Science and Technology (S&T) program of the Department of Defense.  I appear before you today with excitement about the capabilities and possibilities being opened by science and technology throughout the Department of Defense.  Before addressing specific aspects of the Defense Department Research and Engineering (R&E) program, let us recall the pledge made by President Bush upon taking office.  The President said that he would order "an immediate, comprehensive review of our military-the structure of its forces, the state of its strategy, the priorities of its procurement."  He also said his goal would be "to move beyond marginal improvements-to replace existing programs with new technologies and strategies."  The President made technology one of the cornerstones of his mandate to transform defense.  Now that we are two years into President Bush's administration, I believe it is a good time to review how well the DoD S&T program is enabling transformation.  I will highlight some recent accomplishments and the planned direction of the S&T program.

As the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, functioning in the role of the Department's Chief Technology Officer, I have established five goals.  These five goals are consistent with, and derived from the goals and objectives laid out by the Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Mr. Pete Aldridge.  The Research and Engineering goals are:

• Integrate DoD S&T and focus on transformation

• Enhance technology transition

• Address the national security science and engineering workforce

• Expand outreach to the combatant commanders and intelligence community

• Accelerate support to the war on terrorism

Taken together, they provide a sound strategic R&E framework to support  transformation in the Department of Defense.   I will address each of these five goals separately-and in so doing, will thereby describe the direction of the overall S&T program.

Integrate DoD S&T and Focus on Transformation 

There are two key elements to this goal-how much the DoD invests in S&T, and what technologies the Department invests its S&T dollars. 

The FY04 President's Budget Request is a good budget request for science and technology.  The DoD request for S&T in FY04 is $10.232 Billion, or 2.69% of the overall Department of Defense request.  The budget request achieves greater than zero percent real growth for S&T, when compared to the combined FY03 President's Budget Request and Disaster Emergency Relief Fund.  Significant overall growth in S&T investment has occurred since the budget request of $7.8B in FY 02.  This is a budget increase for S&T of nearly 25% in just two years.

However, simply adding money to the S&T accounts will not ensure transformation.  We have also focused the budget request on several important technologies that should enhance transformation and deliver superior military capabilities.  Last fall, we decomposed the entire S&T budget, and found that nearly all S&T dollars are aligned to support Secretary Rumsfeld's six critical operational capabilities as outlined in the Quadrennial Defense Review.  These capabilities are:  protect bases of operations, deny enemy sanctuary, project and sustain US forces, enhance space operations, assure information operations, and leverage information technologies.  The DoD S&T investment request is aligned to develop technology that should directly enhance these capabilities.  Additionally, we identified three broad, cross cutting initiatives that address the development of DoD critical transformational technologies.  The three areas are the National Aerospace Initiative; Energy and Power Technologies, and Surveillance and Knowledge Systems. 

The Services are investing in these areas and other high profile transformational projects.  The Army Future Combat System is a transformational project that combines combat and support vehicles and unmanned air and ground systems that will work together as an integrated system-of-systems.  The Army's Objective Force Warrior will decrease the equipment weight of the deployed infantry soldier from around 100 pounds to 40 pounds.  The Air Force is developing enhanced precision weapons and directed energy weapons that will provide a battlefield commander greater options to deal with a threat with graduated effects.  The Navy is moving to an electric force, with advanced propulsion concepts and electric weapons. 

In addition, we have increased our investment in the Defense Research Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) by almost a half billion dollars a year with a significant additional investment allocated to space technology.  DARPA continues to emphasize high-risk, high payoff research in a number of strategic thrust areas, as outlined in the DARPA Strategic Plan.  I would like to highlight a DARPA project that is supporting transformation in the Department with Service collaboration.  The Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) is a small, man-portable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can fly and hover in a battlefield using a large horizontal fan for moving and hovering.  The UAV has been tested in 9, 15, and 29 inch diameter version-and each can carry different payloads.  This "system" is being developed as a component of the Army's Future Combat System.  DARPA's programmatic agility, when linked with Service programs, accelerates technology development and transformation.

In addition, we have increased the investment in demonstrations, primarily through Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTD) over the past two years, from $150M in FY02 to over $213M in FY04.  The ACTD program was instrumental in demonstrating the utility of UAVs such as the Global Hawk and Predator.  The ACTD program harvests the technology developed in the Defense laboratories and industry, and integrates these technologies into demonstrations that provide a glimpse into the future.  I will highlight two of the more than 70 ACTD projects currently underway to give you a feel of the breadth of these efforts.  The Language and Speech Exploitation Resources, known as LASER ACTD is a software package used to read or hear foreign text and translate the language into English.  This system translates Arabic, Farsi, Pashtun, as well as numerous other languages, and is in operational use in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  The Active Denial Technology ACTD is demonstrating the ability of high power microwave systems to prevent unwanted access to installations-in effect, giving the military commander a non-lethal option to protect an area.  We have also increased our investment in experimentation, primarily joint experimentation, and are executing this investment through Joint Forces Command.  This new investment lets the Department conduct large and small scale "experiments" or war games to effectively "try technology before it is bought." 

One of the joint transformational technology initiatives is the National Aerospace Initiative (NAI), which consists of research and development in hypersonic flight technology, affordable and responsive space launch, and enhanced on-orbit space technologies.  In the FY04 budget request, the Department focused the increased investment into hypersonic technology, investing over $150M additional funds in hypersonics.  We seek Congressional support for the FY04 budget request for the increased hypersonic technology work and the integrated technologies of NAI.  Hypersonic technology could be truly transformative as it could provide increased capability through speed in several mission areas.  For example, hypersonics could provide the opportunity to conduct tactical strikes from strategic distance in a short amount of time.  Technology has progressed to the point where we believe that demonstrations of a Mach number per year, reaching Mach 12 by 2012, are within reach.  The development of hypersonic technology could reduce vulnerability of future systems, while potentially providing a flexible capability to strike quickly and effectively deny enemy sanctuary anywhere in the world.  Additionally, a hypersonic roadmap, developed cooperatively by DoD and NASA provides long term potential for affordable access to space.  In short, the National Aerospace Initiative is one of those technology opportunities that has the potential to capture American interest in technology, much like the race to the moon in the 1960's, while providing needed technical capability for the warfighter.  The National Aerospace Initiative is the right initiative for America as we celebrate the first century of manned flight 

A second transformational technology thrust is Energy and Power Technologies. It involves a coordinated investment by all three Services and DARPA to generate, store and use power in systems ranging from microsystems to future generation electric ships.  This initiative is investing in technology that could develop batteries with over five times the energy density, fuel cells that are reliable and safe to use in the battlefield, and capacitors that will decrease size needed to store electricity on ships by a factor of 5-10.  This effort could also potentially impact military operations logistics tail to provide efficient energy and electrical power to forces and systems.  In short, this thrust could also truly transform the military. 

The final cross cutting initiative is Surveillance and Knowledge Systems.  This initiative will seek to develop low cost sensors with various capabilities (such as optical, IR, acoustic, magnetic, biological, chemical, and so forth), connect these information sources to tactical networks, route the data from tactical to strategic level, and finally, the initiative will develop technologies that can assist the decision-maker.  The initiative should continue to make the vision of network centric warfare a reality.  Taken together, the FY04 President's Budget Request for S&T represents a budget that continues to develop the technologies the US military will need into the 21^st Century. 

Enhance Technology Transition

The Department is streamlining the acquisition process built around spiral development and evolutionary acquisition.  The key element of spiral development and evolutionary acquisition is a process that allows the Department of Defense to field ever increasing capabilities brought about by enhanced technology without having to initiate a new acquisition program.  This is a capabilities-based approach, and is consistent with Secretary Rumsfeld's mandate to transform the DoD capabilities.

To enhance technology transition, we need to provide the means and incentives to programs that accept the new technology.  The Department is testing three pilot projects contained in the Quick Reaction Special Program (QRSP).  I was pleased that the FY 03 Authorization Act supported the QRSP.  Three QRSP projects are complementary and focus on developing technology at different maturity levels.  These three projects are the Defense Acquisition Challenge Program, the Technology Transition Program, and the Quick Reaction Fund.  All three require vetting by the acquisition, technology and warfighting community, but can fund specific activities within the execution year.  The Quick Reaction Fund, initiated in FY03, is already developing technology that could be used in current operations and is modeled after the success of the FY02 Quick Reaction Munitions Fund. 

In the FY 02 appropriations bill for the Defense Emergency Relief Fund, Congress identified $15 million for the Quick Reaction Munitions Fund.  Two successful projects resulted from the funding.  The first was the Thermobaric Hellfire Enhanced Capability that increased blast lethality in enclosed structures from the hellfire missile.  Within one year, the project went from chemistry to the field at a cost of $13 million.  The Low-Cost Guided Imaging Rocket (LOGIR) was the second project.  It is enhancing the accuracy of the unguided 2.75" "hydra" rocket used in close air to ground operations.  The type of outcome we achieved from the Quick Reactions Munitions Fund should occur through use of the Quick Reaction Special Projects-and should effect technology transition. 

We believe the potential payoff from the QRSP is very large-and have consequently added $50M more in the FY04 budget request compared to FY03.  The request for QRSP in FY 04 PBR is $75M.  We seek continued Congressional support in the program, and seek your help in ensuring there is sufficient flexibility in the program to allow the DoD to effectively move rapidly to meet the needs of the Department.   We request the QRSP program not be further divided or earmarked, so we can have the freedom to manage and effectively support rapidly evolving technologies and new needs from the warfighter.

Address the National Security Science and Engineering Workforce

The third DDR&E goal is a broad strategic national issue involving the availability of scientists and engineers who are American citizens.  One can argue that the US national security advantage over the past half century was fueled by the production of scientists and engineers-America has had the intellectual capital advantage.  There are signs that America's advantage is eroding.  The number of the scientists and engineers ultimately performing work for the Department of Defense draws from the pool of quality U.S. scientists and engineers.  One could argue that the national defense engine of the end of the twentieth century was in part fueled by the increase in scientists and engineers produced in the US after the launch of Sputnik and the cold war.  There was an excitement about science that resulted in an ample supply of scientists and engineers that would work on national security issues.  The United States was able to produce stealth, the global positioning system, night vision devices, and precision weapons by this pool of scientists and engineers.  The Department of Defense pioneered the development of the internet through the "ARPANET".  The large capacity of scientists produced the technologies leading to the superior military capabilities today.  We believe it is time to rekindle the excitement of science and engineering as a national asset. 

The FY04 President's Budget Request for Basic Research is $1.3B dollars, of which over 50% goes directly to universities.  We estimate that every $1M of university graduate student research supports between 10-15 graduate students, who work in areas of interest to the Department. 

Expand Outreach to the Combatant Commanders and Intelligence Community

We are enhancing the connectivity between the Combatant Commands and the Intelligence Community and the DoD  technology community.  We have identified a specific individual to interface with each of the combatant commander's on technology issues.  The intent is to enhance coordination so that we can reduce technology surprise by potential adversaries and increase technology options for our warfighters.  This outreach extends to other interagency groups.  

Accelerate Support to the War on Terrorism

This is our most important near term goal.  Within a week of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Department established the "DoD Combating Terrorism Technology Task Force".  This Task Force is still on-going, and meets as needed to address specific technology opportunities and or needs.  The Task Force is comprised of executive level technology members from all DoD Components, flag-level officers from the Joint Staff and selected Combatant Commanders, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Energy, and now the Department of Homeland Security.  

Early efforts in the Fall of 2001 resulted in such capabilities as:  the GBU-118B (thermobaric weapon) with applications to caves and tunnels, a backscatter gamma ray system to inspect cargo without going into the container, and a nuclear quadripole resonance system that can detect small quantities of explosives.  The thermobaric weapon was matured from basic chemistry to a fielded system in 90 days.  We also sponsored a rapid study to determine radiation levels needed to kill anthrax spores-knowledge that helped the postal service in late 2001. 

Recently, the DoD Combating Terrorism Technology Task Force's focus has been on technologies to detect and "neutralize" chemical and biological agents.  The Task Force has worked primarily with the United States Central Command and Special Operations Command.  Specific details are still classified, but may be provided in an appropriate forum.

The continued investment in science and technology over the past decades enabled the Department's development of these needed new capabilities.  I believe this is very important for developing technology and transformation.  Good technology development is largely achieved through long-term, stable investment in science and technology.  Not every technology needs to be transitioned immediately but a strong S&T base is critical.  The FY04 President's Budget does focus on transformation technologies.  But it also maintains long-term technology based investment in such capability areas as materials and nanotechnology, electronics, sensors, and so forth.  The balance has been, and remains important.  

In closing, the science and technology program and the objective of Secretary Rumsfeld to provide transformational capabilities to the DoD are absolutely intertwined.  I have mentioned only a few examples within the DoD S&T program.  I believe the Department of Defense successes in technology and transformation are significant, and I appreciate the opportunity to come before you today to tell you about them.  Thank you.