Special Forces seek close relationship with industry to develop warfighter tools quickly and inexpensively
TAMPA, Fla. – It took a handful of Special Forces four days and $7,000 to build a small remote control vehicle — complete with mapping abilities, infrared sensors and the capability to send a video feed back to their vehicle. Defense industry execs had told them it would take 10 months and $1.7 million. Breaking Defense reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
22 May 2019 -- “The nature of industry and SOF collaboration is changing as our personnel learn and adapt to new technological possibilities,” Gen. Richard Clarke, the newly-installed head of the Special Operations Command said Monday at the SOFIC conference in Tampa, Fla. “They are establishing their own garage labs, frequently well forward in the operating environment to develop solutions to technical and tactical problems they’re facing.”
Technology teams from the military services are developing their own warfighter tools on time and on budget, and Clarke says he would like to work more closely with industry find ways of continuing this process.
So as the Pentagon redirects its gaze, SOCOM in some respects is doing the same. James Smith, the command’s top acquisition executive, said he’s focusing on advances in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, precision fires, and data quickly and expensively.
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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
