A Strategic Vision and a New Management Approach for the Department of the Navy's Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Portfolio
Abstract
The U.S. Armed Forces are the most capable and dominant military forces in the world. As forces shrink, however, that capability and dominance has been and is becoming increasingly dependent on the technological superiority of our forces. The maintenance of that technological superiority comes at a significant cost. The continued wide dissemination and availability of advanced symmetric and asymmetric weaponry to nations and to groups, increased instability particularly in the equatorial regions, the emergence over the last decade or so of a technologically-capable near-peer competitor (both militarily and commercially), and the stresses introduced by a severely declining domestic budget has presented the U.S. military with a demand signal to increase capability. At the same time, funding required to do so has been reduced critically. Budget cutting will continue and likely worsen. There is every indication that the need will continue to increase. The Department of Defense (DOD) is facing a severe crisis, but one that should be addressed also as an opportunity. The U.S. military is clearly being asked to do more with less, but if more is to be done with less, then there needs to be very careful consideration given to making fundamental institutional changes, in particular ones that address the critical arena of resource management. If change is resisted, or if the changes are not done well, the U.S. military could easily end up doing worse with less. Simply put, if things are to stay the same, some things are going to have to change.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA622625
Entities
People
- Joseph P. Lawrence Iii
Organizations
- National Defense University