The USA administration is requesting $130 billion for Defense department’s research, engineering, development, and testing for 2023, nearly 10 percent up from last year’s request. From this $16.5 billion will go toward emerging science and technology.
The budget request will establish the Office of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence officer, which will oversee the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, the Defense Digital Service, an expansion of Project Maven, and the Artificial Intelligence Data Accelerator program, among other endeavors. It also allocates $250 million for continued 5G experimentation, with test and evaluation for AI.
This president’s request will be the first to fund the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, a core focus of Defense Undersecretary for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, who has sought to field new, experimental technology in the hands of troops sooner, to facilitate better design and quicker deployment.
The request also includes $1.7 billion to develop “next generation air dominance” technology, which could include a sixth-generation fighter, new types of drones, or both. The aim is an arsenal that “outpaces our competitors in the high-end conflict,” said Navy Vice Adm. Ronald Alan Boxall, the director for force structure, resources, and assessment of the Joint Staff.
There’s also money requested for microelectronics, a core research priority for several years now, and cybersecurity pilot programs. Those investments will fund five additional Cyber Mission Force teams within U.S. Cyber Command to “hold targets at risk and defend against malicious actors.” Funding is also requested for cyber ranges for better testing and training. “Finally, this budget lays the foundation for the U.S. Cyber Command to have ownership of the mission and cyber mission force,” Boxall said.
A large part of that request will go to new software and data tools to link different weapons, platforms, and services, part of the U.S. military’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control vision. That includes $11 billion for network modernization, which Adm. Christopher W. Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called “so critical to command and control another one of those functional battles that are so important to us.”
Said Boxall, “this budget also invests in artificial intelligence and machine learning-enabled battle management systems to improve soldier lethality.”
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