COMMENTARY
navigates this gap, our team has to under- stand that in prototyping hypersonics and directed energy, we are not delivering the perfect solution. Instead, the goal is to deliver a prototype that Soldiers can use and that the Army can choose to move forward with, or choose to move in a different direction.
Whatever path the Army chooses, it has not invested years into a “too-large- to-fail” project. And although they are prototypes, once completed the equip- ment has residual combat capability, is deemed safe, operational and effective, and is placed into the hands of Soldiers, who will continue to refine, improve and train with the capability.
UNIQUE AUTHORITIES
The author, director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition, delivers the keynote at RCCTO Industry Open House, held in Huntsville, Alabama, in June. The Army is leveraging the unique authorities of RCCTO, which Thurgood directs, to advance experimental prototypes in hypersonics, directed energy and other critical capabilities. (Photo by Bryan Bacon, Redstone Rocket)
RCCTO announced its contract award for the 50kW-class effort in July. After a tech- nology maturation phase, the Army will execute a high-energy laser demonstration against a number of M-SHORAD threats. After evaluating the results, the Army plans to make a final selection and award for three additional Stryker prototypes.
Also in directed energy, as part of a joint service effort, RCCTO will deliver an experimental prototype high-power microwave (HPM) weapon with resid- ual combat capability by fiscal year 2024. Te HPM capability differs from high- energy lasers as it uses radio frequency to affect the electronics of a threat, making it inoperable or negating it in some way. HPM weapons can disrupt communica- tions to, for example, throw off a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles.
NAVIGATING CULTURE CHANGE Delivering first-of-a-kind capabilities like hypersonics and directed energy to a unit of action years ahead of schedule is no simple task. But it also doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Tat’s where RCCTO comes in. Answering to a board of directors made up of Army leadership and equipped with a unique charter that includes in-house contracting, RCCTO is built for speed. It’s now using that speed to move out on rapid prototyping and field- ing of strategically important capabilities that address operational needs of high risk and opportunity.
To do this, RCCTO must cross experi- mental prototypes over what’s often called the “valley of death,” where a gap exists between transitioning S&T efforts to a formal acquisition program of record. As it
Perhaps most unique about this new path is that the team involved from the beginning of the capability’s concept moves with it. Both the hypersonics and directed-energy teams came from the S&T community to RCCTO. With them came the knowledge, background and familiar- ity that comes only from years of working on these capabilities. With the addition of acquisition experts, RCCTO established a complete team for successful execu- tion. Much like the commercial world, these teams of experts will aggregate or de-aggregate based on what phase the mission is in.
Yet this concept doesn’t work just one way. It also, from the very beginning of a project entering RCCTO, incorporates the program-of-record side of the Army acquisition team. When hypersonics and directed energy eventually transition out of RCCTO prototype phase and into a program executive office (PEO) and a program of record, the team will change once again. And, as before, the knowl- edge, background and familiarity will move with them.
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