Director of the Advance Technology Research Progress Gary L. Denman addressed
today the Technology-Based Partnership Conference 1995 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The following is his speech entitled "Defense Initiatives in Technology-Based
Partnership."
"The Department of Defense (DoD) faces a greater challenge than ever before to
provide for our national security. This is a result of the dramatic changes
brought on by the end of the Cold War. New threats have increased the need for
fast, flexible, mobile forces with the most advanced weapon systems. We must
prepare our fighting forces for uncertain missions of the future by equipping
them with the most technologically advanced products that are affordable and
accessible. Technology is the key foundation of our post-Cold War strategy.
"In the last several decades, the defense industrial base has become more and
more isolated from the national or commercial industrial base. And today,
because of the cuts in defense spending with the end of the Cold War, this
defense-unique industrial base is shrinking.
"No longer are the most advanced technologies emerging exclusively through DoD
investment. No longer is the DoD the dominant customer for most high
technology. We can not afford to maintain two distinct industrial bases. DoD
is a smaller customer and less capable of affording the equipment it needs. As
a nation, we can no longer rely solely on the defense-unique industries to
equip our military. We must move toward a single national technology and
industrial base that will serve military as well as commercial needs.
"This is a dual-use strategy that will allow DoD to exploit the rapid rate of
innovation and market-driven efficiencies of commercial industry to meet
defense needs. DoD must be capable of leveraging the commercial industrial
base to attain three compatible objectives:
Access to leading-edge technology,
Affordable products, and the
Ability to rebuild military capability should the world situation call for
it.
"By leveraging advanced commercial technologies and efficient industrial
production, the DoD, through demonstrated superior systems integration skills,
can produce technologically advanced defense-unique systems. Developing
dual-use technologies, components, and even subsystems today, will make DoD
stronger, capable of meeting our national security needs of the future.
"One way DoD is leveraging the commercial industrial base is through
government-industry partnerships. Recent experiences have demonstrated the
importance of government-industry and industry-industry partnerships.
"The SEMATECH initiative in the microelectronics industry has been the most
talked about of these partnerships. Together, industry and government have
made substantial investments in key infrastructure technologies that have had,
and will continue to have, a major impact on this vital industry sector. Also,
we have learned that partnering doesn't have to last forever. Together,
SEMATECH and DoD have agreed to end government direct sponsorship in FY96,
leaving behind a strong industry that can support DoD and commercial needs
affordably.
"Many other successful examples of industry-government partnerships exist.
These include consortia targeted at specific industry sectors, specific
technologies, and specific one-time projects. Many of these are happening as a
result of DoD's focus on leveraging commercial technology and dual-use
technology. At the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), we are
particularly proud of the Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP). Other
examples exist in other Agencies, such as DOE's emphasis on CRADAs. I'm sure
Martha Krebs will say more about this.
Examples of Partnerships
"I would like to describe to you two lesser known, but extremely successful
partnerships between DoD and industry. The first is a very significant example
of technology driven by defense needs leveraged against commercial potential.
This is the millimeter and microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) area. It is as
near perfect a dual-use story as any I've seen. And, it is successful because
of the partnership between government and industry.
"The primary objective of the program has been the development of high
performance, affordable microwave and millimeter wave technology for building
electronic systems. These circuits have multiple applications in both defense
and commercial products. The partnership has established a solid design and
manufacturing infrastructure for MMIC technology.
"This partnership's successes to date can be measured by the success of the
MMIC industry and supporting industry. For example:
- Two US substrate vendors are profitable and selling material worldwide,
- Two computer aided design (CAD) vendors are profitable and dominate the world
market for microwave CAD.
- More than six MIMIC program participants are providing foundry services to
multiple customers worldwide.
- Test equipment developed under the program defines the state-of-the-art.
- Several package vendors are now available to support the MMIC industry.
"Commercial and defense applications for MMICs are so prolific that through a
fairly modest investment, DoD now has affordable access to this defense
critical technology in areas such as precision location (GPS), radar antenna,
and communication systems.
"Even more, MMICs are a key enabler for greatly improved performance of defense
systems. MMIC technology insertion into the guidance system of the Patriot
Advanced Tactical Missile has increased the detection of targets by a factor of
two, reduced the missile tracking errors for much greater accuracy in hitting
targets, and improved the ability to find low cross-section targets.
"My second example of DoD leveraging the commercial industrial base through
partnerships is in the materials industry.
"In 1991, Congress authorized $50 million for DoD to form six precompetitive
consortia, and in 1992 provided $70 million for dual-use partnerships. The
resulting partnerships with industry and universities have been extremely
beneficial to DoD and industry alike.
"One of the most successful is the Investment Casting Cooperative Agreement
(ICCA); a precompetitive consortium that was formed in 1992. It is made up of
two foundries (Howmet and PCC), two industry users (P&W, GEAE), and a
software company (UES), with ARPA and the Air Force as the primary government
members. Interface with other federal casting initiatives takes place on a
regular basis between ICCA and NIST and DOE laboratories.
"The vision of the consortium is to enhance the global competitiveness of the
US investment casting industry and its customers. The partnership is using
collaboration to develop an investment casting simulation computer code and
procedure to dramatically reduce the cost and time to design and produce
production airfoil and structural castings.
"To date, the consortium has successfully demonstrated a construction and
simulation tool that reduces the time to develop an investment casting model
from three weeks to less than three days.
"These two government-industry partnerships have been successful because of
three key factors. First, government followed the lead of industry in defining
the scope of the partnership. Second, industry solved the competition question
--focusing on the infrastructure (manufacturing tools is usually a successful
formula). And third, industry established internal processes to absorb the
results from partnerships, i.e., overcome the NIH factor.
Technology Reinvestment Project
"I mentioned the TRP as one of ARPA's flagship efforts to leverage commercial
and dual use technology; it is the most recent example of government-initiated
partnering with industry. It is designed to ensure industry's commitment to
productize. The primary goal of the TRP is to find ways to successfully
leverage the national investment of billions of dollars in domestic R&D to
meet military purposes.
"The program has three key requirements. First, each project must be driven by
a compelling defense need. Second, each proposal is judged solely on its
merits, and third, winning proposals have to share the cost with the
government.
"The successes in the resulting government-industry partnerships have been
extremely encouraging. For an investment of $400M annually, the TRP has
leveraged billions of dollars of industrial R&D.
"The policy of cost sharing is crucial, not so much because it increases our
investment, but because it guarantees the companies involved have some
confidence in the commercial prospects for the technology because they share
both the risk and the benefit.
"One TRP program, the Affordable Composites for Propulsion (ACP) program,
serves as a model for affordable technology development. The technology
developed by this partnership will positively impact both the commercial and
military aircraft engine industries and their suppliers while bringing forward
significantly improved engine performance.
"Industry partners include P&W, the Boeing Company, DOW-UT, DuPont,
Hercules, and Vought Aircraft Company. Government partners are ARPA, the Air
Force, Navy, NASA.
"This effort is a model for dual-use technology development. Its development
of affordable composite engine components will enable the early commercial
market introduction of next generation engines. Defense Department involvement
in the partnership will ensure access to improved engine technology and a
viable composite supplier base. For both government and industry,
affordability is the foremost aim. The team is to focusing on
manufacturing-based design approaches using low cost composite processes at the
onset of the engine development, as well as integrated product and process
development.
Another promising TRP program is the Uncooled Infrared Sensors program.
"Uncooled infrared sensors have applications that range from embedded senors
in missile terminal guidance systems, to equipment for the Twenty-First Century
Warrior -- an armored infantryman outfitted with night rifle sights that depend
on infrared sensors that will provide a quantitative advantage. The widespread
use of effective ingrared devices could revolutionize our ability to fight
under night, fog and smoke conditions. However, today's uncooled infrared
sensors are still too expensive for widespread use, and require upgraded
performance as well.
"This TRP project is aimed at improving performance and lowering costs, at
least tenfold, through commercial approaches to development and economies of
scale. The commercial market (the leverage needed for DoD to achieve economies
of scale) is potentially great. Commercial uses include sensors for finding
power line leakages, goggles for firefighters, security monitoring, and night
driving aids. Three different technical approaches are being pursued by teams
led by Loral, Texas Instruments, and Inframetrics.
"I have describe just two of several successful partnerships formed under TRP.
There are so many others, that are just as promising, including:
. Precision Laser Machining - Bringing together defense and commercial firms
to put the speed and precision of military laser technology to work in machine
shops and plants to ultimately reduce the cost of lasers for defense uses.
. Combat Casualty Care - Saving lives through new sensors and information
systems to find and diagnose casualties during the critical first hour they are
injured in the field.
. High Density Data Storage - Increasing the portability and ruggedness of
data storage, while decreasing the cost, to provide our front-line soldiers
access to the best information and intelligence.
. Chemical and Biological Agent Detection - Protecting soldiers from the
threat of chemical and biological agents through the development of sensors
that can detect and identify the agents.
ARPA Dual-use Programs
"The TRP is one part of a larger commitment to a dual-use strategy at the
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). As the Director at ARPA, I can tell
you first hand that it has a long history of delivering leading edge
technologies that have provided the military the technological superiority it
needs to prevail in crises. And many of these technologies have proven to have
dual-use application. ARPA's focus on dual-use technology research and
development will help meet critical defense needs by breaking down the barriers
between the commercial and defense industries. Industry-led commercial
development as a spin-off of critical military technology development, has an
important consequence for present and future military budgets -- the broader
the application of the dual-use technology, the lower the unit cost to the
military.
"Let me put into context the broader ARPA strategy, by describing the ARPA
program. The ARPA program is loosely grouped into three investment categories:
one, Core Technologies; two, Infrastructure; and three, Military Systems. Core
technologies are those technologies that provide the materials, electronics,
software process, computing and components that are essential for meeting DoD
systems needs. These investments are typically dual-use in nature, serving to
advance commercial products as well as military systems. The second category,
Infrastructure, refers to those technologies and capabilities that enable the
DoD to produce its materiel and train and care for its personnel. The trend
will be to continue to move toward a shared national
infrastructure with greater reliance on the civil sector to support defense
needs. The third investment category, Military Applications, is the portion of
the ARPA program that includes innovative technology development in support of
improved, affordable military capability.
"I'd like to comment briefly on a few programs that can be classified as
dual-use and that have recently come under fire. The claim is that these
efforts are not relevant to national security and should not be pursued by
ARPA. The specific programs I am referring to include SEMATECH, Electronics
and Materials programs, Advanced Simulation, Manufacturing Technology, and
Computing and Communications Systems, in addition to the TRP. These are
historical ARPA programs that have had major military impact in the past. To
rescind these efforts would be catastrophic on the future advancement of
military systems.
"How can I make such a strong statement? Look at the impact our sustained ARPA
investment has had on military technological superiority:
. Advanced Simulation - The recent Atlantic Resolve training exercise clearly
demonstrated the utility of advanced simulation. Joint warfighting decision
makers confirmed that advanced simulation supported operational requirements.
. Advanced Computing - All of our current and future weapons systems rely on
information technology. In declining budgets, information technology alone
offers the possibility of increased performance for older platforms and
systems.
. Manufacturing Technology - is enabling the affordable acquisition of weapons
systems, a key item during a time of reduced budgets.
. SEMATECH and Electronics Initiatives - are as key as advanced computing in
enabling the US to maintain technological superiority over adversaries.
. Materials Initiatives - Advanced materials and the low-cost manufacturing
know-how for these materials in the past led to composites low-observable
aircraft, and will in the future enable more efficient jet engines, as one
example.
Impact of New Congress
"The current threat to ARPA's core budget in these dual-use areas jeopardizes
the nation's most successful military high-technology operation. ARPA is more
vital to national security today than ever before. Tighter budgets, rapid
developments in foreign technology, and a US policy of maintaining the best
fighting force in the world requires the Defense Department to be first in
technology.
"ARPA has undertaken an ambitious program of investment in advanced
technologies that can meet critical defense needs by exploiting the potential
for a commercial market. Our challenge is to communicate how these dual-use
investments benefit our fighting forces today, and in the future. Defense
R&D dollars are carefully invested to satisfy military needs -- to promote
lower costs and higher quality at increased performance. DoD maintains a
strategy to do what it
can to ensure US commercial industry remains at the cutting edge in those
technologies that are also critical to our military capabilities. This
necessarily requires DoD to support leading-edge R&D that accelerates the
development of emerging commercial technologies that simultaneously meets
defense needs.
"And a principal way to achieve the most from this dual-use R&D investment
strategy is through government and industry partnerships that will lead to a
single integrated commercial and military industrial base. A win-win solution
can exist for DoD and industry through partnering."
