We knew the threat and could do incremental improvements to address the threat. Now, there is a difference because plans must be based on the potential of threat. The center will focus and pool resources to effectively identify and apply technologies that are emerging to help steer future technology design. By ascertaining the unique needs of a joint military force, the Defense Department will be able to alert industry about which direction research and development for future tools should proceed. This is valuable information for companies, the colonel states.
Experiments can last from a few hours to a few months.
The first joint experiment was conducted over a four-month period. Participants reviewed advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies as well as dynamic tasking approaches that would be employed in 2010 or 2015. They also conducted trend analysis to determine what technological advancements the technology community believes will be developed by that time. While the laboratory is currently examining theater ballistic missiles in terms of mobile air defense systems and mobile command posts, future experiments will drill down from this more generalized assessment to the role of specific platforms such as aircraft or tanks, the colonel says. These types of investigations are designed to go beyond the recommendation or acquisition of a particular weapon system.