DOD needs more diverse emerging tech investment, Democratic caucus argues

Members of the New Democrat Coalition legislative caucus urged the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee in a Tuesday letter to ensure that the Department of Defense is properly investing in emerging technologies and strengthening the nation’s defense industrial base as part of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

The letter — spearheaded by the caucus’s national security task force and signed by over 50 members — laid out the coalition’s five priorities for the FY24 NDAA, claiming they would “promote the safety and prosperity of Americans and enhance the security of our allies and partners.”

The coalition is made up of more than 90 House Democrats “committed to pro-economic growth, pro-innovation and fiscally responsible policies,” according to its website. 

The letter, in part, warned that DOD’s innovation process “has gaps and strategic deficiencies that hinder the swift identification, development and adoption of innovative technologies.” The lawmakers also expressed concern that too much of the Pentagon’s funding to support the creation of new technologies “is concentrated in the early stages of development.” 

“This leaves limited support for testing and proof of concept, and as a result, many technologies do not reach the adoption stage,” the letter added. “And while we face these challenges at home, America’s adversaries are investing in efforts to supplant U.S. global leadership through technological, military and economic means.”

To address these concerns and help ensure the U.S. “maintains its technological and strategic edge over near-peer adversaries like China,” the letter called for the FY24 NDAA to better fund the creation of emerging technologies “across the innovation pipeline,” rather than prioritizing assistance for them in the nascent stages of development. 

The lawmakers also said that next year’s defense spending bill should, in part, seek to “develop a diverse and skilled workforce, particularly in cybersecurity,” across the Pentagon, while also expanding and streamlining ongoing efforts to introduce commercial technologies across the department.

The letter also called for the House Armed Services Committee to focus on strengthening the nation’s supply chains and the defense industrial base as part of the NDAA, saying that they are “critical to maintain U.S. national security objectives.”

“We must take steps to ensure our defense industrial base is not vulnerable in a shifting international security environment,” the lawmakers wrote, referencing, in part, a July 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office which warned that DOD “does not have a consolidated and comprehensive strategy to mitigate risks to the industrial base.” 

To encourage the development of resilient supply chains critical to U.S. national interests, the lawmakers said the FY24 NDAA should direct DOD “to create a comprehensive strategy to mitigate risks to the industrial base.”

“Constant innovation is essential to maintaining a strong, agile military,” Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash. — who chairs the task force that led the coalition’s letter — said in an emailed statement to Nextgov/FCW. “In order to ensure America is able to proactively respond to an increasingly complex global security environment, we must continue to support and invest in our defense industrial base.”

In addition to enhancing DOD’s adoption of commercial technologies and bolstering the nation’s defense industrial base, the letter — addressed to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and the panel’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. — also called for the FY24 NDAA to continue providing assistance to Ukraine “to repel Russian aggression and meet the needs of its citizens,” to provide more assistance to active duty servicemembers and veterans and to “prioritize climate resiliency and energy security.”

The House Armed Services Committee’s seven subcommittees each held markups this week on their respective legislative provisions for the FY24 NDAA. The full panel will hold its markup on June 21.

The draft NDAA legislative provisions released earlier this week by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies and Innovation focused, in large part, on restructuring DOD’s internal management and creating or expanding existing pilot programs to allow for the department to more readily embrace emerging technologies. 

The subcommittee unanimously voted to advance its proposals during its markup on Tuesday.