Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology Paul Kaminski
announced today the 39 proposals selected for negotiation under the FY94
focused competition of the Technology Reinvestment Project.
Today's announcement includes 224 companies, universities, and state and local
government organizations, who will receive $202.2 million in government
funding. All funding will be at least matched by participants.
Kaminski indicated, "It is central to our strategy to continue building our
military capability upon technological strength. But, high performance
technology is expensive, and budgets are declining. We can do more with less
by leveraging commercial technologies, markets and practices to reduce the cost
of Defense products. And the TRP's DoD-industry partnership is proving an
effective mechanism for this leverage."
Of today's selections, 30 are for technology development and nine are for
Manufacturing Extension Centers. The distribution among technology areas is as
follows:
Environmental sensors -- Five proposals selected (government funding $9.5
million). The goal of the environmental sensors focus area is to stimulate the
development of new, field-deployable sensor technologies and real-time data
processing, storage and transmission systems to detect and monitor a variety of
environmental contaminants. These activities will permit commercial and
defense facilities to more effectively monitor and identify harmful chemicals
used in industrial manufacturing and at other sites, and enhance the military's
ability to detect biological and chemical warfare agents.
High-definition systems manufacturing -- Three proposals selected (government
funding $48.3 million). This focus area will stimulate the production of flat
panel displays in the U.S. by cost-sharing research and development on display
manufacturing technology to promote the establishment of a dual-use production
base from which to satisfy defense needs at greatly reduced costs. Today's
proposals were the first to be selected for the manufacturing incentive program
of the National Flat Panel Display Initiative.
High-density data storage systems -- Two proposals selected (government funding
$16 million). Cost-effective, high-density digital data storage will enable
the rapid growth of storage-intensive systems that are being fueled by the
increased use of digital images, video and multimedia programs for military and
commercial applications.
Interoperability testbeds for the National Information Infrastructure -- Five
proposals selected (government funding $23.2 million). The goal of this focus
area is to ensure the creation of open, interoperability standards in a number
of National Information Infrastructure functional and product areas that are of
critical importance to DoD.
Low-cost electronics packaging -- Nine proposals selected (government funding
$38.3 million). The purpose of this focus area is to stimulate domestic
packaging research and development in low-cost electronic packaging. It is one
element of an Administration action plan to enhance the competitiveness of the
U.S. electronic packaging industry. Today's proposals will reduce the cost of
electronic packaging of integrated circuits; DoD spends over $1 billion
annually buying integrated circuits for military systems.
Object technology for rapid software -- Three proposals selected (government
funding $19.5 million). The goal of this focus area is to radically reduce the
effort required to field new software applications by developing reusable
software components. Today, approximately 85 percent of the installed base of
software is a custom application. This duplication of effort is both costly
and time consuming.
Uncooled infrared sensors -- Three proposals selected (government funding $21.6
million). This focus area will accelerate the entry of uncooled infrared
technologies into the commercial market, and will contribute to the sustaining
manufacturing base necessary for affordable, high performance military systems.
The cost reduction to be gained through commercial development and economy of
scale opportunities make the activities under this focus area potentially a
major contributor to maintaining U.S. superiority in military operations
conducted at night or under obscurants.
The Technology Reinvestment Project is a Clinton Administration initiative to
integrate the commercial and defense sectors into a single, leading-edge
technology and industrial base. It is jointly implemented by a collaboration
of six Federal agencies -- the Departments of Defense (Advanced Research
Projects Agency, Army, Navy, Air Force), Commerce, Energy, and Transportation,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science
Foundation.
The Clinton Administration's defense reinvestment program emphasizes
investments in dual-use technology for military and commercial applications.
This dual-use strategy is one key to posturing the nation for the requisite
defense to meet our future national security challenges while creating
long-term jobs and stimulating economic growth. Through this dual-use focus,
the Defense Department is seeking closer ties to America's commercial high
technology industrial base in order to speed up the rate at which new
innovations are introduced into defense systems, and to make these systems more
affordable.
Since the Defense Department will be increasingly reliant on the use of
commercial components and technologies, maintaining the technological
superiority of defense forces requires that industry be able to supply products
using state-of-the-art technologies, at competitive, affordable prices. Thus,
the goal for Defense research and development is to ensure that the U.S.
technology base remains strong and at the leading edge in key strategic areas.
Defense, therefore, has a vital interest in the health and competitiveness of
the U.S. technology and industrial base. With programs like the Technology
Reinvestment Project, Defense will work with industry to support the
technological underpinnings of sectors critical to national security, and
develop policies and programs to provide them with a strong economic
foundation.
Today's awards bring to $820 million the total amount of federal matching funds
being spent under the Project. Last year, 212 projects were selected during
the first competition, with an additional 153 awards to small businesses. More
than 230 proposals were submitted for today's competition.
The detailed list of selected proposals is attached.
