Program Executive Office Soldier ( PEO Official Page)’s Post

USG: “People are more important than hardware,” and “Technology is not going to win the next fight.” The Baddies: Cool, cool, cool…[uploads enterprise-level cyber attack]. USG: Great Lincoln’s beard! Our people can’t talk to each other now!!! The Baddies: Whah-whah In all fairness, I understand and agree with what Brigadier General Ferguson is saying. Technology ALONE is not enough to guarantee mission success. You can have all the latest and greatest gizmos or do-dads in the world, but it’s all for not if you don’t have a creative user behind the wheel. However, I will counter that people alone will not be enough either. Creativity will only get you so far. Our warfighters, as innovative little devils as they may be, still need highly advanced tools to fight a modern war and a re-engineered system that rapidly supports this process. Paper beats rock, scissors beat paper, tank crushes horse, and OTH unmanned aerial platform with a kinetic payload busts tank. All day long. #government #defenseinnovation #nationalsecurity #drones #culturalchange #innovation #technology https://lnkd.in/erajb2XG

"Year Ahead – The U.S. DoD Replicator Initiative and the Acquisition Process for Autonomous Weapons" - Chris Jenks, Senior Law of War Advisor for the U.S. Army JAG Corps. In this article, read about Mr. Jenks' exploration of what 2024 will tell us about the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Replicator Initiative, and also about the DoD’s acquisition process for autonomous weapons. #JAGCorps #ArmyJAGCorps #USArmyJAGCorps #GoArmyJAG #DepartmentofDefense

🚨Read it -bureaucracy working as designed. “Replicator’s woes could be fixed if…department officials decide not to buy other military assets, such as fighter jets or Navy ships.” -it’s not a binary choice Everyone leader that read Kotter at staff college in the last decade should recognize where are in time at an institutional level. You didn’t read Kotter to make change at your Bn…it was so you could recognize opportunities and enable change across organizations. The system works so well it’s afraid to realize an opportunity-and of course, in fairness, the other side of the equation, the industrial base, is afraid to place risk outside of the known method. Now the risk is transferred solely to the commander and not the program manager -and that’s how innovation dies (you’ll find me in the library tomorrow revising an entire section of my thesis on this) https://lnkd.in/eq2Ni_N8

A study will look at the suitability of Kongsberg’s VANGUARD system, on an adapted civilian hull https://lnkd.in/dz--qmti

Gifted Naval thinker (Robert C. "Barney" Rubel) makes the case that real innovation at the Navy corporate level begins with weapons-centric thinking. He feels that platform-centric thinking throughout the years may have blinded us to viable alternatives -- we visualize, plan and build the ship, then we think about what weapons can be strapped on... Have previous ideas like the Arsenal ship, missile merchant, or missile carrying small craft been quashed by an organizational obsession with ship characteristics? Will such thinking affect how we approach future unmanned systems? #Innovation #FleetDesign

Flak is back! There is a definite need for gun based systems on the battlefield. Not only for C-UAS but other aerial threats (FW, RW, and CMs). The answer to this question is the Navy Mark 45 5” gun. This system could easily be retrofitted onto a maneuver platform and would provide the Army an answer to three of its future capability desires. 1. Anti aircraft artillery role this system is capable of hitting targets at 25 miles. If you were to tailor the 5” round to a AAA application you are likely to have capability up to 30K feet which the Army would agree is the limit of their responsibility. The system would also effectively handle drone swarms creating effects over a large cubic volume of airspace with a single round. 2. Coastal defense artillery role using the current 5” round you would be able to engage naval vessels out to international waters from the coast line. The system would be mobile so it could be emplaced or surged where needed. 3. As a tank destroyer you could create a high velocity anti armor round that is fired from the mobile 5” cannon and with a possible range of 25 miles (likely limited to something less than that in this application) you would be able to engage vehicles at great range and multiple times before they reach the max range of their systems. With one system (already in the DoD inventory) we can solve 3 problem sets in a highly effective manner. Instead of chasing programmable bullets and other tech that while amazing drives up the cost per round, it may be time to bring back Flak.

Autonomous battle field robots are not as much of a stretch as many people might think. In the naval world ASCMs and Torpedoes are basically that now. The abilities of Sweden's new 400mm torpedo (Which the RCN absolutely should consider) really blurs the line between torpedo and UUV. https://lnkd.in/gW4XR9Ns

During a panel discussion moderated by Raymond James Managing Director Andy McEnroe, four Wash100 Award winners and GovCon CEOs shared their perspectives on the defense and government market and gave their predictions for what the GovCon market should expect in the next year. https://lnkd.in/gFweMXgt #govcon #conference #wash100 #defense #govconmarket

In a nutshell, we're talking about a short-term plan (18 to 24 months) of fielding "thousands of autonomous systems across multiple domains" in a bid to "counter peer adversaries' rapid military buildup." In simpler words that's an effort meant to deploy as many simple-to-use, cheap-to-make weapons systems as possible, tools that could be used effectively on the battlefield while keeping American troops safe and far from harm's way.

In the article at link is this concerning note “Hicks has suggested the department will be cagey in terms of what it shares publicly because it doesn’t want to reveal its cards to adversaries such as China.” Here’s an issue with the Deputy Secretary of Defense’s reported perspective. As a veteran and former Senate/DOD official, I want a strong military that deters aggression globally and prevents our military forces from ever having to engage in hostilities. Peace through Strength.   If we wait to “reveal our cards” until when the shooting starts – we have already lost blood, lives and treasure. So how about following Reagan’s SDI approach and stop being “cagey”. Let’s publicly reveal what DOD wants from #Replicator today to put doubt in the Chinese military that they will not be able to withstand our technological advantage. That’s what stops wars from happening. We can always protect the technology’s engineering and performance details, but should be very bold, clear, and determined on how we will prevail on the battle field. That’s how #deterrence works.