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Maintaining Military
Advantage Through Science and
Technology Investment
Enhancing American security requires, first and foremost,developing and maintaining a strong defense capability of forces ready tofight.
- A National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement, 1995
National defense is fundamental to the President's National SecurityStrategy of Engagement and Enlargement. In pursuing its military strategy,the Administration faces the dual challenge of readying U.S. forces to addressa more diverse set of threats while at the same time downsizing andrestructuring our forces to respond to the defense needs of the 21st century.The Administration has launched a series of initiatives designed to capture andapply science and technology to respond to these challenges, focusing on thefollowing objectives: supporting our military forces in the range of missionsthey can be assigned, reducing acquisition costs, and nurturing a healthynational science and technology infrastructure to spawn innovation and thevital industrial capacity to capitalize on it.
Science, Technology, and Military Strength
Our defense science and technology investment enables us to countermilitary threats and to overcome any advantages that adversaries may seek. Italso expands the military options available to policymakers, including optionsother than warfare in pursuing the objectives of promoting stability andpreventing conflict. Science and technology help to counter special threatssuch as terrorism that cannot be met by conventional warfighting forces, andthey underpin the intelligence capabilities necessary to assess the dangers ournation faces. The U.S. military also relies on science and technology to makeour advanced military systems more affordable through their entire life cycle.And by maintaining a close dialogue with the warfighters, the defense S&Tcommunity not only remains sensitive to user needs but also sensitizes the userto the possibilities that technology offers for responding to evolvingthreats.
U.S. military capabilities not only protect the United States and itscitizens from direct threats, they also help maintain peace and stability inregions critical to U.S. interests and underwrite U.S. defense commitmentsaround the world. Maintaining a strong defense capability means that the U.S.Armed Forces, and the Department of Defense more broadly, must be prepared toconduct the following kinds of missions, as described in the President'snational security strategy:
- Deterring and defeating aggression in major regional conflicts. U.S. forces must be capable of offsetting the military power of regional states with interests opposed to those of the United States and its allies. To do this, the United States must be able to deter and, if necessary, defeat aggression, in concert with regional allies, by projecting and sustaining U.S. power in two major regional conflicts that occur nearly simultaneously.
- Providing credible overseas presence. Some U.S. forces must be forward deployed or stationed in key overseas regions in peacetime. These deployments contribute to a more stable and secure international environment by demonstrating U.S. commitment, deterring aggression, and underwriting important bilateral and multilateral security relationships. Forward stationing and periodic deployments also permit U.S. forces to gain familiarity with overseas operating environments, promote joint and combined training among friendly forces, improve interoperability with friendly forces throughout the world, and respond in a timely manner to crises.
- Conducting contingency operations. The United States must be prepared to undertake a wide range of contingency operations in support of U.S. interests. These operations include smaller-scale combat operations, multilateral peace operations, noncombatant evacuations, counterterrorism activities, and humanitarian and disaster relief operations.
- Countering weapons of mass destruction. While the United States is redoubling its efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and associated missile delivery systems, we must at the same time improve our military capabilities to deter and prevent the effective use of these weapons. We are pursuing this objective by sustaining adequate retaliatory capabilities and by increasing our capabilities to defend against weapons of mass destruction, to locate and neutralize or destroy them before they are used during a conflict, and to fight in an environment in which such weapons have been used.
Finally, to meet all these requirements successfully, U.S. forces mustbe capable of responding quickly and operating effectively across a wide rangeof environments. That is, they must be ready to fight. Such high combatreadiness demands well qualified and motivated people; adequate amounts ofmodern, well-maintained equipment; realistic training; strategic mobility; andsufficient support and sustainment capabilities.
The science and technology programs that support our military forces areconducted primarily by the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, andthe Intelligence Community-with contributions from many other Federal agencies.The following strategy elements guide our overall science and technologyinvestment:
- Maintain technological superiority in warfighting equipment. Technological superiority underpins our national military strategy, allowing us to field the most potent military forces by making best use of our resources, both economic and human. It is essential for the United States to maintain superiority in those technologies of critical importance to our security.
- Provide technical solutions to achieve the Future Joint Warfighting Capabilities. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have identified the warfighting capabilities most needed by our military in the future (see Future Joint Warfighting Capabilities"). Our S&T investment must be aimed at securing these needed capabilities.
- Balance basic research and applied technology in pursuing technological advances. Today's basic research lays the foundation for tomorrow's innovative development. To make possible the greatest range of options and avoid technological surprise, we must apply resources broadly at the basic research level and make further investment decisions as emerging technologies reveal the most promising payoff areas.
- Incorporate affordability as a design parameter. The cost of advanced technology systems must not be allowed to spiral upward uncontrolled. Affordability must be integrated into the design of military systems from the beginning, and improvements must be incorporated throughout their life cycle with the integration of new technology.
Defense Research and Engineering
The Defense Department science and technology program is organized tosupport the missions described in the National Security Strategy ofEngagement and Enlargement. It is responsive to the warfightingrequirements articulated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as to the missionrequirements of the military departments. The Director of Defense Research andEngineering is responsible for the direction, overall quality, and content ofthe Department of Defense science and technology program.
Basic Research Fields of Inquiry |
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| Atmospheric and Space Science |
The Department of Defense S&T program is organized into threecategories: basic research, exploratory development, and advanced technologydevelopment. Basic research is the element of the S&T program that seeks toincrease knowledge and understanding of science. It is the foundation on whichfuture technological superiority is based. Twelve fields of inquiry, listed inthe box at top right, compose the Defense Department's basicresearch program. The two other components, exploratory development andadvanced technology development, make up the Defense technology program. Thisprogram is centered around the 19 technology areas listed in thebox at lower right. The exploratory development program providesproof-of-concept experiments and evaluations built around models and laboratoryexperiments, while the advanced technology development program evaluates theeffectiveness of technological advances in providing required militarycapabilities. In total, the three components that make up the program arehighly interrelated, as sharp distinctions between research and developmentphases no longer apply.
Technology Areas for Exploratory |
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| Aerospace Propulsion and Power Air Vehicles and Space Vehicles Battlespace Environments Biomedical Applicationss Chemical and Biological Defense Individual Survivability and Sustainability Command, Control, and Communications Computing and Software Conventional Weapons Electronics Electronic Warfare and Directed Energy Weapons Environmental Quality and Civil Engineering Human Systems Interface Manufacturing Science and Technology Manpower, Personnel, and Training Materials, Processes, and Structures Modeling and Simulation Sensors Surface/Under Surface Vehicles and Ground Vehicles |
The defense science and technology program is planned and conducted bythe military services and Defense agencies. The Departments of the Army, Navy,and Air Force train and equip the military forces and use the S&T programto provide warfighting options for their service components. The defenseagencies are responsible for specified cross-service aspects of the overallprogram and execute designated programs in support of national securityobjectives. The Advanced Research Projects Agency is charged with seekingbreakthrough technology and with investing in technologies that are referred toas "dual use" because they have both defense and commercial applications. TheDirector of Defense Research and Engineering, in collaboration with themilitary departments and other Defense agencies, prepares the DefenseScience and Technology Strategy and a technology plan which describes thefocus and content of the overall Defense technology effort, including goals,objectives, and schedules.
Priorities of the Department of Defense S&TProgram
Information technology, sensors, and modeling and simulation are highpriority S&T programs in the Department of Defense. Information technologyand sensors have the potential to dramatically improve all aspects of futuremilitary capabilities, while modeling and simulation have already made majorcontributions to training, readiness, weapons design, and acquisitionmanagement. Together, these technologies can significantly reduce combat lossesin lives and equipment.
Counterproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction |
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| In early 1995 the Counterproliferation Program Review Committee,chaired by the Secretary of Defense and composed of the Secretary of Energy (asVice Chair), the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff, conducted a comprehensive assessment of U.S. activitiesrelated to countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As aresult of this assessment, the Secretary of Defense has taken measures tosignificantly strengthen Department of Defense science and technology effortsin counterproliferation to address shortfalls in U.S. operationalcapability. Counterproliferation spans the spectrum of diplomatic activitiesand military operations. As a Department of Defense mission, it includessupport of proliferation prevention and intelligence activities; deterring theuse of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; defending against suchweapons and their effects; and maintaining a robust ability to find and destroydelivery forces and infrastructure elements with minimum collateral effects,should this become necessary. In 1995, Congress provided $60 million to "jump-start" thecounterproliferation program within the Department of Defense, and theAdministration has requested $108 million for 1996. These funds are being usedto accelerate development and deployment of essential militarycounterproliferation technologies and capabilities and to leverage existingDepartment of Defense investments relating to countering proliferation. TheDefense Department has placed increased emphasis on detection technology, witha goal of accelerating by six years the deployment of biological and chemicalagent remote detection and characterization systems. In addition, it isaccelerating development of a new generation of hard target defeat andcollateral effects prediction and mitigation capabilities, with the goal ofdemonstrating them within the next two years. The Department of Defense is alsoaccelerating important proliferation prevention efforts such as initial 1996fielding of enhanced capabilities to track nuclear, biological, and chemicalrelated foreign shipments. The Administration's continuing efforts in counterproliferationwill focus on the identification and development of the most promisingtechnologies for the detection and characterization of proliferation threatsand for developing and providing capabilities to counter the spread of nuclear,chemical, and biological weapons; their infrastructure; and associated deliverysystems. |
Information technologies have changed the battlefield. They enablebetter performance of current platforms, weapons, sensors, and people. Today,electronics and software add capability to almost every complex system.Information technologies are the basis for continual improvements incommunications; intelligence gathering, analysis, and distribution; precisionstrike capability; platform control; sensor data processing; and humanperformance. Our troops depend on accurate and timely battlefield information.The ability to collect, integrate, analyze, and deliver this informationefficiently and rapidly is critical to battlefield advantage. And because ofthe amount of tactical information available, a principal challenge isprocessing the data into meaningful forms for battlefield decisionmaking.
Beyond the battlefield, the management of enormous amounts of datarelated to logistic support is an increasingly important and demandingrequirement. There is often too much administrative overhead associated withensuring that equipment and supplies are on hand. Information technologyprograms offer the means to significantly reduce overhead and enhanceefficiency by accounting for supplies via automated sensor and computer links.We are applying advanced computer software and systems and communicationtechnology to the task of rapidly sorting through large quantities of data andpresenting logistic specialists with information in ways that permit efficientoperations and reduced errors. Technology is also needed to help ensure that noenemy can disrupt the information systems on which we depend.
We seek to preserve an information advantage over the adversary inall conflicts. Military forces need 24-hour all-weather surveillance. Theyneed the ability to see through foliage and camouflage, under water, andthrough the earth's surface. They need the ability to track difficult targetssuch as cruise, antiship, and ballistic missiles as well as quiet submarines.They need the means to positively distinguish friend from foe in combat. Themilitary also needs to know if and where weapons of mass destruction are beingproduced and in what quantity.
Our investment in sensor technologies is focused on providing thesecapabilities. The sensor technology program is broadly based. The United Statesinvests in radar sensors that can detect ground targets concealed by foliageand camouflage; advanced acoustic, magnetic, and laser sensors to detect andlocate submarines and mines in shallow water; and sensor technologies thatmight support detection of buried structures and mines.
Challenging requirements for sensors to aid in countering weapons ofmass destruction must be met. First, the United States needs to be aware of theexistence of facilities capable of creating nuclear, biological, or chemicalmaterials. Second, the United States needs to monitor-typically at longdistances-the output of such facilities and then track the movement andstockpiling of materials. Third, the United States needs better sensors todetect and identify the attributes of chemical and biological agents whenreleased in the atmosphere or water. Last, the United States requires moreaccurate wideband radars, multispectral electro-optical sensors, and laserradars to detect ballistic missile launch, to target both cruise and ballisticmissiles, and to discriminate missiles and reentry vehicles from chaff. Each ofthese priority needs is addressed in the President's 1996 budget.
Future Joint Warfighting Capabilities |
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| The National Security Act of 1947, as amended (50 USC Sec. 401),which provided for the organization of the Department of Defense, vested theoverall direction and control of defense research and engineering in theSecretary of Defense. The Joint Staff an and the Joint Requirements OversightCouncil have identified five Future Joint Warfighting Capabilities most neededby our military. Those needs, coupled with technological opportunity, are usedby the Director of Defense Research and Engineering to shape the defenseinvestment portfolio. The five Future Joint Warfighting Capabilities are as follows:
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A battlefield sensor is part of a larger system. It must perform withinthe constraints of that system. It is particularly stressing where there is arequirement for a very rapid military reaction to a sensed input; for example,to detect and target a closing sea-skimming missile, to detect and target aballistic missile during boost phase, and to perform quick friend versus foeidentification. The Defense S&T program seeks both incremental enhancementsand breakthroughs in this area.
Modeling and simulation are powerful tools with myriad high payoffapplications. We are using them in training, planning, and the employment ofour forces. They also offer a cost-effective means of enhancing readiness. Inaddition, we are using modeling and simulation to expand the range ofalternatives evaluated during concept formulation and as an aid to planning andsetting priorities for the Defense Department's S&T investment. Modelingand simulation technology can augment the testing and evaluation of systems andhasten manufacturing with reduced cost. Simulations can be the basis forplanning and decision aids to stretch the ability of commanders to train, toplan, and to employ their forces.
Information Technologies To Ready Our Forces- |
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| Advances in information technologies contribute a growing array ofstrategic capabilities for our forces. New information technologies can providehigh-resolution data about terrain, environmental, and tactical conditions thatcan be communicated to troops and their command instantaneously. One example ofthe application of these technologies is battlefield digitization. Digitizing the battlefield is the application of commercialinformation technologies to acquire, exchange, and employ timely informationthroughout the battlespace, tailored to the needs of each commander, shooter,and supporter, allowing each to maintain the clear and accurate vision neededto support both planning and execution. Digitization allows the warfighter tocommunicate vital battlefield information instantly, rather than through slowvoice radio and even slower liaison efforts. The U.S. Army's strategy in digitizing the battlefield focusesArmy technology efforts on applying commercial technology and developingcritical military technologies. These include data compression; satellite-basedcommunication and sensing; sensor and data fusion; advanced wirelesscommunications; advanced lightweight, large-screen, high fidelity, and flatpanel displays; multifunctional digital radios; microelectronics; and advanceddistributed simulation. |
Challenges remain in the areas of virtual reality; use of extantcommunications; linking simulations to real-world exercises on live ranges;variable resolution of simulated entities; realistic semiautomated forces;validation that a simulation performs as specified; verification that a modelor simulation sufficiently represents reality; and accreditation of a model orsimulation as a suitable basis for exploring a particular issue.
The Defense S&T program will continue to be broad-based, spanningall defense-relevant sciences and technologies. The military services willcontinue to field robust programs in service-specific technologies: the Army interrestrial science and armor materials; the Navy in ocean geophysics andacoustic signature analysis; and the Air Force in atmospheric physics andaerospace vehicles and propulsion systems.
Science and Technology To Combat Terrorism |
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| A continuing challenge to the security of our nation stems fromthe threat of international and domestic terrorism. Terrorists, whether fromwell-organized or loosely organized groups, have the advantage of being able totake the initiative in the timing and choice of targets. Terrorism involvingweapons of mass destruction represents a particularly dangerous potentialthreat that must be countered. Countering terrorism effectively requires close day-to-daycoordination among many Executive Branch agencies, including the Departments ofState, Justice, Energy, and Defense; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; andthe Central Intelligence Agency. Part of the challenge is to identify needs,seek common approaches, and coordinate the development of new technologies tocounter terrorism. This is accomplished through the interagency TechnicalSupport Working Group. Priority is given to projects that could be of use tomore than one agency, such as portable X-ray machines. In addition, individualagencies conduct research and development for their own specialized needs. Forexample, the Federal Aviation Administration is developing improved aircraftcargo containers that can withstand explosive devices. Within the past year, accomplishments include:
Additional projects under way include a "smart" detector forshielded nuclear materials; the development of enzymatic decontamination foamsurfactants for rapid cleanup of chemical or biological agents; detectors forquickly identifying the presence of biological agents; and passive taggingsystems and laser data relay systems to support enhanced surveillance andintelligence operations for counterterrorism purposes. The U.S. Government is also cooperating with other nations incounterterrorist technology development. Work has begun with Britain, Canada,and Israel involving an initial set of 17 joint projects. This internationaleffort will enhance the research efforts for both the United States andparticipating nations. Fighting terrorism is a goal we share with our alliesand a mission that we can more effectively achieve by jointly applyingresources and expertise. |
Defense Programs in the Department of Energy
Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship
To reduce the global nuclear danger, the United States and Russia areimplementing unprecedented arms reduction agreements by rapidly dismantlinglarge portions of the U.S. and former Soviet nuclear arsenals. In 1992 theUnited States entered a moratorium on underground nuclear testing, halted thedevelopment and production of new nuclear weapons; and began closing portionsof the weapons complex no longer needed to support the stockpile of the future.But the United States will continue to maintain nuclear forces of sufficientsize and capability to deter nuclear attack against the United States or itsfriends and allies by any future adversary with access to strategic nuclearforces.
The Clinton Administration is committed to ensuring the safety,security, and reliability of our enduring nuclear weapons stockpile and hasdeveloped the science-based Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program tomeet this national need. This technical program aims to maintain our highlevel of confidence in the safety and performance of our nuclear weapons as wepursue our arms control and nonproliferation objectives.
The Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program will give us theability to respond to problems concerning the safety or reliability of thestockpile in a timely manner by maintaining our national expertise in nuclearweapons. The functions of the program are monitoring and evaluating thestockpile; modifying and repairing present weapon systems while ensuring fullconfidence in their operability; demonstrating manufacturing capability;certifying and recertifying the safety and performance of weapons; and mostimportant, maintaining the competency base of nuclear weapons experts.
The new program changes the weapons stewardship paradigm from a largeand expensive complex with excess capacity to a capability-based complex ableto meet the requirements of the future stockpile. The nuclear weaponslaboratories will assume more responsibility for production and remanufacturingcapability in addition to their responsibilities for scientific understanding.Retaining the capability to rebuild our stockpile in a national emergency is animportant condition to the consideration of further reduction in our activestockpile.
S&T Priorities for Defense Programs in theDepartment of Energy
The Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program is intended to gain animproved scientific understanding of age-related changes that might affectsystem safety or performance. Improved understanding of warhead behavior overtime will be obtained from enhanced computational and experimentalcapabilities. Enhancements essential to computational simulations of nuclearweapon performance include a thousand-fold increase in computational speed anddata storage; three-dimensional modeling of components; and increases inspatial resolution of models. Improved experimental capabilities will come fromhigh resolution, multiple-time, multiple-view hydrodynamic experiments (dynamicradiography) and pulsed-power and laser-based experiments.
Development of advanced manufacturing and materials technologies willeliminate the need for large facilities and infrastructure. We are developingadvanced manufacturing concepts for a smaller, agile production complex toproduce replacement weapons components in small batch sizes in a timely,affordable, and safe manner.
The advanced manufacturing and materials technologies to be developedinclude computer-generated solid models of products; electronic informationabout materials properties; predictive computer models of manufacturingprocesses; and sensor-based adaptive process control of manufacturing.
Other research is aimed at continued improvements in the surveillance ofthe effects of aging on nuclear weapons. This will provide our scientists andengineers a more solid basis for anticipating, identifying, and solving newproblems or remedying defects that may occur in the enduring stockpile as itages. Enhanced weapons and materials surveillance technologies includepredictive models based on materials science; nondestructive evaluationtechnologies to examine weapon components; and sensors built into stockpileweapons to monitor indicators of aging.
Tritium is required for all weapons in the enduring U.S. stockpile.Recycling tritium from dismantled weapons will satisfy stockpile requirementsinto the next decade, at which time some means of tritium production will berequired. The Department of Energy is currently considering several productionoptions, including accelerator; advanced light-water reactor; and modularhigh-temperature, gas-cooled reactor technologies.
Meeting the expected needs of the future will require upgrades ofexisting facilities and construction of some new facilities that haveapplications in scientific research and in strengthening the scientificunderstanding of weapons physics. Facilities will also be needed to allow forflexible manufacturing of materials and replacement components.
The Intelligence Community
The downsizing of the U.S. military force structure places a priority onthe ability of the Intelligence Community to identify and understand emergingthreats so that policymakers can rapidly develop effective responses. Acritical aspect of this transformation has been a significant increase inreliance on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to providedecisionmakers and battle commanders dominant battlespace knowledge in a timelymanner.
The strategic threat to U.S. national security has receded. However,this change in the strategic environment did not produce a more stable or lessviolent world. In fact, the change from a bipolar to a multipolar worldincreased the requirement for U.S. military forces to operate in nontraditionalmissions and continues to provide the potential for large-scale conventionalforce engagements.
The military strategy articulated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff addressesthe full range of military operations on a global scale, and intelligencesupport to military operations must accommodate this diversity. Superiorintelligence support during planning, deployment, sustainment, employment, andredeployment is needed to achieve national objectives and minimize risk to U.S.forces, our allies, and coalition partners.
Science and technology investments support advances in all phases of theintelligence process from collection through dissemination. Intelligencecollection via human sources (HUMINT); from imaging satellites and aircraft(IMINT); from signals interception systems (SIGINT); from analysis of targetsignatures (MASINT); and from open-source reporting is integrated to supportall-source analysis of potential crisis situations and active militaryengagements. These science and technology investments cover technologiesranging from information processing to new generations of sensors forspecialized collection systems to high-performance algorithms for dataprocessing and exploitation.
In the coming years, as a result of the global technology explosion, theIntelligence Community faces both threats and opportunities-threats resultingfrom the worldwide proliferation of information processing and communicationstechnologies, and opportunities resulting from the rapid advances in these andother technologies in the commercial marketplace. Now more than ever,well-planned S&T investments will position the Intelligence Community toprovide timely, comprehensive, and detailed intelligence support to the U.S.warfighter.
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Privacy Statement
President's Letter
Executive Summary
Maintaining Military Advantage Through Science & Technology Investment
New Ways of Doing Business
Meeting the Challenge of Global Threats
Policy Response
Strengthening Economic Security
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
