BRAD D. WILLIAMS
WASHINGTON: The House Armed Services Subcommittee for Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems released its proposed Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act markup today.
The markup, which is the legislative process of amending the Defense Department’s proposed budget released in May, includes the following highlights:
Establishes pilot programs to accelerate moving science and technology initiatives from research to implementation — to include improving the tech transfer process from small businesses to the military — and requires identifying barriers to quicker adoption and scaling of innovative tech;
Adds a thirty-first mission area called “spectrum operations” and requires appointing a senior department official to lead implementation of the electromagnetic spectrum strategy published in October;
Expands survivability testing of tech systems against non-kinetic attacks to include developing new tools to conduct such tests throughout the systems development life cycle;
Requires evaluating the effectiveness of departmental information operations;
Requires reviewing and reporting on the Defense Innovation Unit’s ability to fulfill its mission;
Bolsters tech talent development within the DoD and access to external expertise through several initiatives; and
Mandates identifying and inventorying all legacy IT systems to be phased out.
The markup reflects several priorities of subcommittee chair Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., including the need for faster tech adoption, full implementation of the 2020 Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy, and initiatives to develop tech talent within the department and military.
“I’m very pleased with this year’s CITI subcommittee markup, which will advance crucial bipartisan, national security priorities like improving the Department of Defense’s ability to transition technologies across the valley of death, testing our weapons systems against emerging threats, and streamlining opportunities for small businesses to contract with the Department,” Langevin said in a statement to Breaking Defense. “I look forward to the full Chairman’s mark next month, which I expect to include several key cybersecurity priorities, so we can continue to prepare and defend our nation against all of the 21st century threats we face.”
Ranking member Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., did not respond to a request for comments.
The markup comes at a pivotal moment for the US as it intensifies competition — while seeking to avoid conflict — with China, which senior department officials refer to as America’s “pacing threat.”
Some analysts still grade the US as holding a slight edge overall in defense tech. But China’s massive, multi-year military modernization and expansion efforts, as well as its aggressive investments in emerging tech — such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing — are viewed as posing serious challenges over the next decade to the US’s fragile military and high-tech advantages.
The US, for years, has been losing wargaming scenarios against China and Russia, including one in October that led to leadership rethinking the role of cyber and space in its Joint Warfighting Concept. And in some cases, DoD has proven to be its own worst enemy as important initiatives have floundered because of poor leadership and bureaucratic morass — not to mention services infighting over missions and budgets.
President Biden’s proposed FY22 budget has been criticized by some observers because, they say, funding fails to keep pace with accelerating inflation and does not match China’s military investments. But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told Congress in June that the proposed budget meets DoD’s needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment