Maintaining the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Prototype Integration Facilities
Abstract
It is well recognized that the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Prototype Integration Facilities (PIFs) provide an unmatched and critical capability, supporting RDECOMs overarching science and technology (S and T) strategic goal of transitioning technology to the warfighter. Since their inception they have provided a rapid method to field urgently needed products directly to the warfighter and played a vital role in bridging the gap between S and T and the user community. They provide the agility necessary to rapidly upgrade current systems to counter urgent threats and to develop, apply and evaluate leap-ahead technology for future systems. As fiscal resources become increasingly constrained in this new era of reduced defense budgets and loss of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding, one can assume that the collective prototyping and integration capacity within RDECOM may become unsustainable. These PIFs are largely funded through customer reimbursable funding, much of which has been resourced through OCO funding for the last decade. The changing fiscal environment may require a rightsizing of PIF capacity or novel new opportunities to leverage their unique capabilities. Given the right Army and RDECOM management and budget support, all of the PIF managers surveyed strongly felt that their facilities can play a larger role in tightening the linkages between RDECOMs S and T efforts and the Army's materiel acquisition community.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- AD1040502
Entities
People
- Thomas W. Haduch
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University