By Terri Moon Cronk, DoD News, Defense Media Activity
SOUTHBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Blue Planet has changed dramatically equally engineering capabilities possess got gone global, in addition to the United States’ near-peers PRC in addition to Russian Federation are advancing inwards the land at an alarming rate, Mary Miller, performing the duties of the assistant secretarial assistant of defence for question in addition to engineering, said hither May 1.
“People empathise technology, in addition to that is something we’re going to possess got to encompass in addition to leverage,” Miller said during her remarks at the kickoff Defense Department human working capital alphabetic quality symposium.
Today, adversaries of U.S. allies in addition to partners too possess got access to the latest inwards technology, she said.
Miller added, “We’re non the clear [technology] leaders that nosotros used to endure inwards the United States.”
The U.S. has focused on insurgencies inwards Republic of Iraq in addition to Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan for nearly 2 decades, “and piece nosotros were busy taking attention of business, our near-peer adversaries -- Russian Federation in addition to PRC -- possess got been investing inwards technology,” she said.
America’s adversaries invested inwards areas of engineering sentiment to endure U.S. weaknesses that could endure exploited, she said, but to too to ensure the U.S. wouldn’t endure able to role its groovy strengths.
“We didn’t mean value it was happening thus fast,” Miller said.
China’s Tech Goals
China’s 30-year strategy to cash inwards one's chips the dominant forcefulness inwards its expanse is good nether way, she said, in addition to the the States is concerned that 1 time the Chinese possess got cash inwards one's chips regionally dominant, they volition hold off to expand their influence.
“Microelectronics,” she said equally an example, “which touches everyone is of groovy concern to DoD because every weapon scheme nosotros possess got has microelectronics.”
PRC has a deliberate strategy in addition to it’s invested $150 billion to brand certain they tally the U.S. capability inwards microminiaturization past times the early on 2020s, Miller said.
And, PRC wants to endure globally dominant past times 2030, she said.
If PRC becomes the global microminiaturization leader, Miller said, the the States volition possess got to cash inwards one's chips to them for every microelectronics-capable chip.
“This is unacceptable,” she added.
Having the U.S. lose potency inwards engineering is a groovy concern, Miller said.
“Congress decided nosotros demand to focus on how nosotros find dominance, in addition to they telephone outcry upward it technical superiority,” she explained, adding Congress decided to split DoD’s erstwhile acquisitions, engineering in addition to logistics entity into 2 organizations.
Research in addition to engineering scientific discipline was formed equally 1 of the entities “to convey risks, force hard; don’t worry nearly failures along the way,” Miller said.
The other organization, acquisitions in addition to sustainment, ensures equipment is expedited to the warfighter, she said.
The U.S. armed forces is instantly focused on achieving global engineering dominance, Miller said.
U.S. Must Be Dominant past times 2028
“[Defense Secretary James N. Mattis] said nosotros demand to pursue urgent alter on a pregnant scale. This isn’t but 1 operational paradigm … it’s [about] how nosotros substantiate the engineering fountain ahead that nosotros need. He wants to endure globally dominant past times 2028,” Miller emphasized.
She said the National Defense Strategy’s iii lines of endeavour -- a to a greater extent than lethal force, strengthening relations amongst allies in addition to making novel partnerships, in addition to reforming efficiency -- volition aid DoD accomplish global engineering potency past times 2028.
Modernization is a focus of the National Defense Strategy, in addition to inwards the final xv years DoD hasn’t modernized equally much equally it’s focused on fighting the wars inwards Republic of Iraq in addition to Afghanistan, Miller said.
The Defense Department is interested inwards hypersonics, directed unloose energy in addition to fully networked command, command in addition to communications, she said, equally good equally operations inwards infinite -- both offensive in addition to defensive.
The DoD too volition invest inwards cyber/electronic warfare, artificial intelligence, machine learning, missile defense, quantum science, microminiaturization in addition to nuclear modernization,” Miller said.
But none of that matters if DoD doesn’t practise a workforce to employ all that high technology, she said.
Talented Workforce
Miller outlined some challenges DoD faces inwards the hiring realm, including the lack of mightiness to compete amongst manufacture to hire the necessary talent, in addition to an “incredibly slow” agency to hire people at the department. She added that DoD too does non pay equitably inwards many technological areas, compared to industry.
“But DoD has groovy opportunities,” she said, citing the mightiness to travel on programs that straight practise goodness the warfighter.
Miller said DoD is pushing ahead amongst programs, scholarships, fellowships in addition to working amongst manufacture to attract the talented workforce it needs to gain technological superiority past times 2028.
“We’re looking at influencing [people] from Kindergarten on out,” she said. “We desire kids to desire to endure [science, technology, engineering scientific discipline in addition to math] literate.”
DoD too does a lot of STEM outreach, because “we desire kids to mean value the STEM workforce is interesting in addition to exciting. We desire them invested inwards agreement what they tin practise [to realize] …. their potential for the future.”
The DoD needs “to brand certain that our workforce is ever the best workforce. So nosotros invest inwards them … to practise in-house expertise,” to drive DoD forward, Miller said.
Such a workforce, she said, “is critical” to DoD’s plans to accomplish global technological potency past times 2028.
“We demand to capture goodness ideas to fundamentally alter in addition to enable this workforce to acquire us there,” she said.
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