Joe Jewell left academia and his role directing hypersonic wind tunnels to oversee the Pentagon’s science and technology enterprise. He wants more researchers to make the same move. He joins Jonathan to discuss the Pentagon’s science enterprise, why he thinks academia is the envy of America’s closest allies, and how his office gets technology from the lab into the hands of the warfighter.Image: Gabriella White via DVIDS. The post The Pentagon’s Sprint to Get Tech Out of the Lab and to the Warfighter appeared first on War on the Rocks .
The Pentagon is actively pushing to accelerate the integration of emerging technologies from research into operational use, driven by geopolitical competition and rapid advancements in defense-critical fields.
This initiative signifies a strategic shift in how the US defense apparatus intends to maintain its technological edge, emphasizing speed and practical application over traditional long development cycles.
The focus is shifting from fundamental research to rapid prototyping and deployment, with increased collaboration and talent movement between academia and the defense sector.
- · Defense contractors
- · Emerging tech startups
- · Academia (defense-aligned research)
- · US Military
- · Bureaucratic inertia
- · Traditional R&D processes
- · Competitor nations with slower tech adoption
Increased pace of defense technology development and acquisition.
A more integrated defense-academic-industrial complex, fostering innovation and talent flow.
Enhanced military capabilities and potentially a renewed arms race focused on advanced autonomy and emerging tech.
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