WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon\u2019s top technology official says Congress is on board with a proposed rapid experimentation reserve, and she expects lawmakers to approve initial funding for the effort in fiscal 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve is a new initiative from the U.S. Department of Defense\u2019s research and engineering shop meant to address high-need capability gaps across the military. From more than 200 proposals, the department has selected 32 projects and hopes to begin demonstrations in fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To prepare for those demos, the department needs funding in fiscal 2022 it didn\u2019t include in its budget proposal. Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu told reporters today she expects Congress to deliver on a late request from the Pentagon to add funding in the forthcoming appropriations bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re actually plussing me up more than I asked for,\u201d Shyu said during a Defense Writers Group event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shyu wouldn\u2019t say how much money she asked Congress to add for RDER in fiscal 2022. Asked what the department included in its fiscal 2023 program objective memorandum, she said only that it was less than $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be very big at all,\u201d she said. \u201cFor a small chunk of money, we can move the needle quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shyu\u2019s office has been light on details about the projects included in the first round of RDER demonstrations. The 32 efforts include a range of classified and unclassified technology needs, but Shyu declined today, when pressed, to offer any examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking more broadly about future funding, Shyu said the department\u2019s fiscal 2023 research and development budget will build on last year\u2019s $112 billion request, which was about 5% higher than what Congress appropriated in fiscal 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although she didn\u2019t offer details about what would be included in the request, Shyu said her priorities include areas like hypersonic weapons, autonomy and microelectronics. Her office plans to release more details on her top technology priorities as soon as next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu expects to be able to kick-start the new Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve in fiscal 2022 with some help from congressional appropriators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"10":{"categories":["home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","techwatch","industry"],"primary_category":""}}},"categories":[7,106,29,32],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3260],"class_list":["post-22520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-battlefield-tech","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"45CWP2SS3FB3VBSO5IP52PUDJ4","arc_canonical_url":"\/2022\/01\/13\/pentagon-tech-chief-says-new-rapid-experimentation-reserve-is-moving-forward\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n