Twenty-First Century Defense and Disruptive Innovation
Abstract
In preparing for future wars, the U.S. military must anticipate new threats. The successful management of disruptive technologies is crucial to this preparation. This paper explores the military s management of innovation in acquisitions. It has three objectives. First, it outlines how the existing acquisitions system is geared to the successful management of sustaining innovations (the definition of which is discussed below). Second, it seeks to understand how, in the case of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), the U.S. military successfully overcame the obstacles that typically bedevil leading organizations in the management of disruptive technology. Finally, it examines the applicability of the lessons of the military s management of UAS in the post conflict era, and the inherent difficulty of replicating this experience in other disruptive technologies. Arguably, without the impetus of war, the unmanned aircraft would still number in the hundreds and would only fill a small niche instead of disrupting the way we prosecute wars today. What lessons should we learn from this experience?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 22, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA563406
Entities
People
- Carey M. Wagen
Organizations
- United States Army War College