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Written by Brandy Vincent
The Pentagon’s Research and Engineering Directorate is investigating manufacturing challenges that impact the defense industry base and are disrupting its ability to deploy capabilities aligned with technology sectors deemed most critical to national security in the coming years.
Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shew outlined 14 high-priority technology categories in February, part of a broader vision to accelerate advanced military assets. Areas where the Department of Defense is currently focusing its efforts and investments are: biotechnology; Quantum Science; Next generation wireless technology; Advanced Materials: Trusted artificial intelligence and autonomy; Integrated network systems: Microelectronics; space technology; renewable energy generation and storage; Advanced computing and software; human-machine interfaces; directed energy; Hypersonics and integrated navigation and cyber.
But the Pentagon is dependent on industry to help bring new capabilities to fruition.
“But all these new technologies, if we can’t build them, if we can’t move forward, if we can’t buy them, we can’t use them.” Therefore, we are very concerned about the industrial base of the technology. Investing in these new technologies and understanding how to quickly move them to an industrial base is critical for us now and in the future,” Barbara McQuiston, DOD’s deputy chief technology officer for science and technology, said at a virtual event Wednesday. In FCW. “To do that, we have to be able to risk production capacity — and in some cases we have to increase production or in other cases we have to weigh what we have to do.”
McQuiston, who reports to Shiu, noted that she and her colleagues are funding research and collecting data on the “health, maturity and stability of the defense industry base” in those 14 critical technology areas.
While she did not provide many more details, McQuiston said these studies “highlight some of the needs of modern warfare,” including hypersonics. Officials said they “looked at the challenges of the industry base in engineering, manufacturing and testing.”
Working with partners in the National Defense Industry Association, the team identified risks, issues and opportunities to reduce time and cost to the military and develop advanced capabilities.
“Whenever we get rid of speed bumps, the base of the industry is stronger and stronger and able to work faster,” McQuiston said.
DOD has manufacturing innovation facilities to support this work. The hubs are designed to help overcome manufacturing challenges for specific technology ecosystems. McQuiston is a small community, each with experts from government, universities, startups, large companies and more. Since the institutes’ inception a decade ago, the Pentagon has created a network of more than 1,500 corporate partners and committed nearly $1.2 billion to support the centers, McQuiston said.
These institutions are “enhancing research and development to advance American innovation,” growing the nation’s defense technology manufacturing pipeline, and providing education, workforce development and training at manufacturing sites with manufacturing gaps, she said.
NextFlex, a manufacturing institute focused on hybrid electronics in partnership with Boeing, has assessed funding, skills and talent issues impeding future workforce development.
“Thanks to public-private investment in moving this forward, we are able to expand education in 14 states, 35 different community colleges, 43 industry partners and 7,240 participants,” McQuiston said. We are looking to expand this over the next few years.
Officials from NextFlex have put together the ability to monitor the physiological state of oxygen, volatile organics and moisture levels to improve the health and well-being of Air Force personnel in real time.
“They looked at the challenges of doing maintenance for people who go into fuel tanks, so that they have continuous monitoring of their safety life, and all the volatile materials that can be in the environment that they do to make sure that people are safe,” McQuiston said.
Another manufacturing innovation institute focused on integrated photonics — used to sense or control light — used Cares Act funding to develop an optical chip on a mobile card that detects exposure to several viruses, including Covid-19, in one minute. A single drop of blood.
“AIM Photonics also established the first test and assembly packaging for state-of-the-art 3mm-based silicon wafers to reduce cost and accelerate development, re-prototyping and transferability. Focus on some important manufacturing challenges,” said McQuiston.
She also noted the recent passage of the CHIPS and SCIENCE Act, which President Biden signed into law on Tuesday. The law, which is intended to stimulate domestic capacity to produce microelectronics, provides nearly $52 billion in investment and incentives to boost semiconductor production in the U.S., especially as the world struggles with chip shortages exacerbated by the pandemic.
“It’s really the key to everything around us and our daily dependence,” McQuiston said.
Several provisions in the recently approved law also aim to strengthen the country’s science and research infrastructure.
McQuiston said it has invested heavily in “a national research and development center, an advanced packaging manufacturing program and up to three Manufacturing USA institutes for semiconductor-related manufacturing.”
The bill provides $2 billion over five years for microelectronics. Government officials plan to create a new national network that will transfer prototype and lab-to-production semiconductor technologies onshore — including those needed by the DOD.
“As we advance these technologies, they can advance our own mission,” McQuiston said.
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