NDIA: The Army’s novel Futures Command is creating multiple airplane pilot projects to convey tech geeks inwards hoodies, defense forcefulness contractors inwards suits, too soldiers inwards uniform, the command’s chief excogitation officer said this morning. The goal? Instead of heartwarming but inconclusive “outreach” to innovators inwards Silicon Valley too beyond, Adam Jay Harrison wants to genuinely plough their swell ideas into mass-produced, military-grade tech. That requires hybridizing exterior inventiveness amongst insider expertise to larn promising projects across what’s called the “valley of death” betwixt conception too production. “I larn genuinely irritated when I’m inwards the audience too I take away heed ‘startup, startup, startup,'” Harrison said this forenoon at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). “Startups are non the alone origin of ideas,” he said. “Our labs, our DECs (Development & Engineering Centers) make disruptive novel things nosotros take away to live capitalizing on…just every bit much every bit startups.”
Yes, Army Futures Command absolutely wants to connect amongst exterior innovators through high-profile events such every bit the how-to-kill-drones hackathon Harrison himself ran simply lastly month, he said. But experienced insiders — similar most NDIA members — are essential too, because they know how to navigate the complex Pentagon process, protecting the big-idea guys from the bureaucracy too securing funding. We take away “people similar you lot mentoring these brilliant immature innovators,” he said, “participating on teams to assist us come upwards amongst the ideas that take away capitalizing.”
AH-64 Apache helicopter fitted amongst experimental Raytheon Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation pod.
Appetite for Disruption
That’s where Harrison’s novel venture comes in. The Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) is what he calls a “concierge service” to convey inwards innovators too connect them to people inwards the Army amongst the coin too potency to plough their swell ideas into reality.
In official language, AAL is “the Army proponent for disruptive innovation.” While it may audio similar a meaningless buzzword, “proponent” inwards Army-speak is a real specific term of art. It means, inwards essence, a permanent arrangement responsible for improving a specific Army component — artillery, airpower, infantry, etc. — too ensuring that materials genuinely gets done, from writing novel plain manuals to fielding novel equipment.
“Disruptive,” inwards this context, primarily agency engineering that the Army hasn’t already recognized every bit an official priority past times identifying threats, writing requirements, creating acquisition programs, too hence on. (If there’s already a vetted requirement too it’s officially defined every bit a “capability gap” inwards take away of a solution, Harrison said, selling your stance to the Army is pretty easy). As the proponent, the lab tin assist larn requirements written for promising novel capabilities, connect innovators to coin too decision-makers, too scale upwards one-off experiments, demonstrations, too prototypes into sustained programs of record.
The modern battlefield has move a complex house of threats, from powerful anti-armor too anti-aircraft missiles to the dawn of pocket-size but lethal unmanned aircraft.
Harrison doesn’t hold off most of the swell ideas the lab sucks inwards to come upwards out over again every bit fielded fight systems. But all of it, he said, volition furnish intelligence on the fine art of the possible for the Army to consider every bit it decides what, ultimately, to build.
“At the halt of the day, ninety pct of what nosotros practise ain’t going to work,” he said, “but 100 pct of what nosotros practise should live informing somebody’s decision.”
Six Months, Four Pilots
The run has simply begun. The Army Applications Lab is 1 of the few parts of Army Futures Command that’s beingness created from scratch, rather than repackaged out of existing organizations, too it’s all the same inwards flux. “My No. 1 chore correct immediately is trying to larn NIPRnet access for employees,” Harrison said to rueful laughter.
“We are real sensitive to running the flag upwards too getting expectations way out of whack,” he said. “None of you lot likely heard of the Army Applications Lab (we did -ed.) earlier I walked inwards here, too that’s sort of on purpose.”
In a calendar month or two, the lab volition post a formal Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to serve every bit an official invitation to contractors, but, “we’re simply starting to larn to the pint where nosotros tin initiatory off to possess got meaningful conversations amongst people,” Harrison said. “We’re likely close 6 months away earlier nosotros tin genuinely help.”
But the lab is already launching a serial of important airplane pilot projects. All embody the regulation of connecting exterior innovators amongst swell ideas to experienced insiders who tin brand them happen. Each offers a potential indicate of entry for tech the Army powerfulness non otherwise detect out about, but each catalyst is aimed at technologies at dissimilar stages of evolution. (The 4 pilots flat a logical sequence, but you lot don’t possess got to practise them all inwards turn: whatever given fellowship tin motion into whatever pilot, based on the maturity of its technology).
Catalyst is the airplane pilot for the to the lowest degree mature ideas, the foundational research: what Harrison calls the intriguing possibilities that are all the same “unstructured (and) unproven.” It volition construct on the existing Army Research Laboratory “open campus” programme past times reaching out to academy communities — academic researchers, pupil entrepreneurs, that startup 2 professors possess got inwards their garage — too connect them to the Army too defense forcefulness industry. The initial focus volition live on Austin (home of Futures Command HQ), Boston, too Berkeley, Calif., but the ultimate project design is to move nationwide.
Here’s 1 model of what Catalyst wants to construct on. Just a few months ago, Harrison said, Uber, the Army, too the University of Texas signed a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRDA) on fluid dynamics modeling for future rotorcraft. (Uber Elevate is the ride-share company’s nascent air taxi project). “That opens upwards a whole novel basis of potential collaborators,” he said — but “it would possess got been fifty-fifty better, quick frankly, if we’d had some defense forcefulness manufacture folks inwards that understanding every bit well, to furnish the production pathway for whatever the query is that comes out of that.”
The side past times side stage is Army Capability Accelerator, which focuses on applied research. This is where teams of fight soldiers, entrepreneurs, researchers too defense forcefulness manufacture veterans collaborate to make an actual working epitome that existent troops tin field-test inwards realistic conditions. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 successful squad powerfulness manus off the engineering to established players or move its ain startup company, Harrison said.
The Accelerator is already launched inwards New York City, he said. The Army’s long been worried close urban warfare, too immediately it’s using NYC’s sprawling subways, sewers, too other subterranean infrastructure “as a testbed to demonstrate a hit of dissimilar products too technologies” to assist soldiers navigate, survive, too prevail underground.
The model hither is venture capital, specifically the early on stage amongst lots of pocket-size grants to allow the proverbial 100 flowers bloom: $50,000 to $100,000 inwards straight Army funding, summation access to Army examination infrastructure, experts, too decision-makers.
Larger working capital missive of the alphabet investments volition menses through the Cooperative Development Fund, which volition back upwards applied scientific discipline projects past times emulating the latter, large-scale phases of venture working capital missive of the alphabet funding. The fund volition largely reorganize funding programs that already exist, similar the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Harrison said, past times “lower(ing) whatever barrier to participation.”
All also often, Harrison said, participating companies tell the SBIR procedure is also bureaucratic, also burdensome, too also deadening to coughing upwards actual cash. Established defense forcefulness contractors tin contend amongst that sort of delay too overhead, but pocket-size businesses can’t. In fact, he said, today also many SBIR contracts move to a “cottage industry” of companies that specialized inwards navigating the complex process, amongst their whole work organisation model based on getting 1 “innovation” grant afterwards some other without always making the transition to a terminal production troops tin use.
Instead, “we take away to live treating SBIR similar the Army’s venture working capital missive of the alphabet fund,” Harrison said. Yes, the Army has tried this before, amongst the Army Venture Capital Initiative, he acknowledged, but “we are resetting that too looking for ways nosotros tin deploy appropriated dollars into high tech opportunities.”
The terminal stage is the Halo Manufacturing Accelerator, which volition focus on evolution of actual, fielded weapons, sensors, too other systems. Halo volition launch inwards jump 2019 amongst projects to prepare both pocket-size drones too engines for larger unmanned aircraft.
The hurdle hither is all the requirements the Pentagon enforces on companies that desire to brand materials for it. We’re non talking simply close the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) contracting process, Harrison said, though that’s bad enough, “but all the other stuff” from armed forces specifications (MILSPEC) to security releases. Navigating this takes fourth dimension too expertise, which translates into overhead, too most venture capitalists prefer their startup avoid the defense forcefulness marketplace position altogether rather than possess got on such burdens. Halo volition offering an alternative. Let the stance guys focus on their ideas, but convey inwards traditional defense forcefulness contractors too Army institutions to handgrip the ruby tape for them, rather than the startup having to construct that sort of overhead in-house.
This airplane pilot is all the same inwards the brainstorming phase. “We’ve started to flat upwards a tiger squad within the Army to line inwards RDECOM (Research, Development, & Engineering Command) too other sources of expertise to assist us holler back through the problem,” Harrison said. “And too hence we’re looking to line inwards defense forcefulness manufacture to the conversation. This indicate is where nosotros genuinely initiatory off to encounter existent opportunities for defense industry to partner amongst startups.
“We’ll live engaging amongst NDIA too others to solicit participation,” Harrison said. “Stay tuned.”
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