At a Glance

  • An internal report by the U.S. Department of Defense for senior leaders indicates that a significant portion of its research facilities were built before the advent of the internet and urgently need upgrades, otherwise the U.S. military risks falling behind as other countries accelerate innovation.
  • The report, titled "Assessment of the Defense Research Enterprise," recommends establishing dedicated appropriations for research facility development and raising the cap on funds the Department of Defense can use for facility construction projects without additional authorization.
  • The report also calls for creating a database covering all Department of Defense research infrastructure and test facilities to improve visibility into the portfolio of these assets.

In-Depth Analysis

The report states that the Department of Defense's research facilities date back as far as 1865, when the U.S. Army established an electronics design and development laboratory at the Watervliet Arsenal in New York. Today, the average age of Department of Defense research facilities is 50 years.

The report states: "The strategic environment facing today's defense research enterprise is vastly different from the one in which most of its facilities were built. The pace of technological change is faster than ever, and developers can deliver powerful capabilities on easy-to-use platforms. Adversaries have more access to these technologies than ever before and employ non-traditional means to disrupt, interfere, and deny."

The report specifically notes that countries such as Russia and China are leveraging technologies that could affect U.S. security.

The report states: "China has consolidated its military-civilian fusion model, and the scale and speed of its investment require the United States to establish a new paradigm of government-industry cooperation."

Among the more than a dozen recommendations in the report, the first is to push Congress to pass dedicated appropriations for the construction and modernization of Department of Defense research infrastructure.

The report notes: "As the military services continually reallocate scarce military construction funds to other operational priorities, authorized projects have been repeatedly delayed."

The report recommends an annual funding baseline of $650 million, increasing gradually to $952 million over five years.

The report also notes that the Department of Defense would benefit from being able to carry out construction projects exceeding $9 million without going through the authorization approval process. Raising this cap to $20 million, the report says, would "restore the speed and flexibility of the facility revitalization process, ensuring the United States remains at the forefront of science and defense innovation."

The report also makes more than a dozen other recommendations, including addressing the visibility gap caused by the lack of a searchable database of military research facilities.