{"id":51934,"date":"2020-05-22T16:00:45","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/22\/securing-technological-superiority-requires-a-joint-us-israel-effort\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:50:07","slug":"securing-technological-superiority-requires-a-joint-us-israel-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2020\/05\/22\/securing-technological-superiority-requires-a-joint-us-israel-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"Securing technological superiority requires a joint US-Israel effort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States is now engaged in an intense military technology competition<\/a> with the Chinese Communist Party. The ability of U.S. troops to deter and defeat great power authoritarian adversaries hangs in the balance. To win this competition, Washington must beef up its military cooperative research and development efforts with tech-savvy democratic allies. At the top of that list should be Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee understand this well. Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced S 3775, the \u201cUnited States-Israel Military Capability Act of 2020,\u201d on Wednesday. This bipartisan legislation would require the establishment of a U.S.-Israel operations-technology working group. As the senators wrote<\/a> in a February letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, the working group would help ensure U.S. \u201cwarfighters never encounter a more technologically advanced foe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Americans may be surprised to learn that they can no longer take U.S. military technological superiority for granted. In his new book, \u201cThe Kill Chain,\u201d former Senate Armed Services Committee staff director Chris Brose notes that, over the last decade, the United States loses war games against China \u201calmost every single time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To halt this trend, the Pentagon must shift its ongoing modernization efforts into high gear. Early cooperative R&D with the \u201cStartup Nation\u201d can help in this regard. Israel is one of America\u2019s closest and most technologically advanced allies. The country boasts an \u201cinnovative and agile defense technology sector\u201d that is a \u201cglobal leader in many of the technologies important to Department of Defense modernization efforts,\u201d as the legislation notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some may deem the working group unnecessary, citing the deep and broad cooperation<\/a> that already exists between the United States and Israel. But, as the legislation explains, \u201cdangerous United States military capability gaps continue to emerge that a more systematic and institutionalized United States-Israel early cooperative research and development program could have prevented.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t