FROM THE DIRECTOR,


U. S . ARMY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING COMMAND MR. DALE A . ORMOND


A Plan to Make— and Break


Taking the long view of Army modernization means constantly staying ahead of technology


M 168


ost planning involves developing


a concrete steps series ditional decision points


that together define a good way ahead, and then—as no plan survives con- tact—adjusting that. As director of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), when I contemplate the Army’s 30-year plan to modernize the force, I see our goal as not only to break that plan, but to break it often and before anyone else does. It is our job to make the Soldier’s kit obsolete. Tis we must do if we are to help the Army maintain its unparalleled dominance on the battlefield.


It’s a mission that requires the kind of incremental modernization


you can


plan for, and which we pursue with our partners every day, but also leap-ahead


of and con-


technologies that change the way the Army operates on the battlefield. We also have to be prepared to help Soldiers deal with any disruptive technologies an adver- sary may bring to the fight. To do this, we keep our technology pipeline full—from discoveries in our basic research labs to operational capabilities engineered in our prototype integration facilities (PIFs)— to give the Army the enterprise agility to modernize as funding becomes available, or we lose overmatch in an area. In other words, we have to have a plan for making our current world-class equipment obso- lete before someone else does.


LOOKING BACK AT A LEAP AHEAD Precision munitions demonstrate the type


converging to allow a dismounted special operations Soldier to pull the trigger on a weapon carried by a B-52.


Many already take this kind of capability for granted, but you don’t have to look far into the past to find a time when large Army units had to fight across enemy territory to get artillery within range of important targets. Ten, the option was to have Air Force or Navy bomber pilots brave anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighter planes to get into position to drop dumb bombs from on high. In both cases, the United States had to accept not only the cost in people and materiel, but also whatever collateral damage resulted.


of leap-ahead technology that


RDECOM has played a part in devel- oping, with different areas of research


Today a Soldier can wield the power of smart munitions launched from a ship or aircraft that is far away and in rela- tive safety. Tat Soldier doesn’t have to


Army AL&T Magazine


April–June 2014


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