Microelectronics, built-in sensing and cyber, in addition to built-in community systems-of-systems are prioritized within the DOD’s fiscal yr 2024 finances request for science and expertise and prototyping despatched to Congress final month by the president.
Heidi Shyu, who serves because the undersecretary for analysis and engineering, spoke Thursday on the Nationwide Protection Industrial Affiliation to debate how the division’s S&T and prototyping priorities match into the president’s FY2024 finances request.
This yr’s finances request contains about $145 billion for analysis, growth, testing and engineering. That request is 12% greater than in FY2023, and in addition represents the most important request in division historical past.
Among the many areas of focus throughout the RDT&E finances are 14 essential expertise areas Shyu decided in early 2022 needs to be deemed essential for funding by the division.
Amongst these expertise areas are biotechnology; quantum science; future-generation wi-fi expertise and superior supplies — all famous to be “rising alternatives.”
Applied sciences reminiscent of trusted synthetic intelligence and autonomy; built-in community systems-of-systems; microelectronics; area expertise; renewable vitality era and storage; superior computing and software program; and human-machine interfaces are additionally areas the division might want to give attention to to assist preserve U.S. nationwide safety, and the place there presently exists vibrant exercise within the business sector the division can depend on.
And at last, essential expertise areas reminiscent of directed vitality; hypersonics; and built-in sensing and cyber stay comparatively distinctive to the wants of the protection neighborhood.
Throughout the FY2024 finances request, about $6.93 billion is aimed toward S&T and prototyping funding — and that is damaged down by the division’s 14 essential expertise areas.
“Should you check out the break up of the pie by essential expertise areas, you will see microelectronics is … a couple of quarter of the pie,” Shyu stated. “The subsequent piece that is below right here is built-in sensing and cyber — that is about 17% of the pie. The subsequent largest one is built-in community systems-of-systems. Mixed, the three are about half of the pie.”
Microelectronics, Shyu stated, will get about $1.7 billion in funding, whereas built-in sensing and cyber will get about $1.2 billion, and built-in community systems-of-systems will get about $763 million.
Areas like trusted AI and autonomy, hypersonics and biotechnology are the next-largest areas of funding — collectively accounting for about $1.6 billion in funding requests.
Shyu additionally stated the division’s Nationwide Protection Science and Expertise Technique is because of come out shortly. Whereas she didn’t lay out specifics throughout the technique, she did spell out its key focus areas.
Amongst these, she stated, are a give attention to the joint mission, creating and fielding capabilities at velocity and scale, and making certain the division’s foundations for analysis and growth.
As a part of the give attention to the joint mission, Shyu talked about investments in physics-based modeling and simulation functionality and tying that into campaign-level modeling and simulation functionality.
