As China's Military Masters Artificial Intelligence, Why Are We Still Building Aircraft Carriers?
Future needs are being overwhelmed by past practices, because of what Brose's boss, Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, has called the "military-industrial-congressional complex." Brose calculates that in the Pentagon's initial request for $74 billion in new defense spending in fiscal 2019, only .006 percent was targeted for science and technology. The National Science Foundation estimates that in fiscal 2015, only 18 percent of the Pentagon's research and development budget went for basic, applied and advanced research. Major systems claimed 81 percent.
Even when the Pentagon tries to push innovation, it often stumbles. When Ashton Carter was defense secretary under President Obama, he created the Defense Innovation Unit -- Experimental, or DIUX, with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin. That operation thrived initially, negotiating 60 defense contracts with startups. The program has slowed under the Trump administration, despite support from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, because it lacks funds and bureaucratic support, warned Christopher Kirchhoff, a former DIUX partner. If Mattis can appoint a strong new DIUX leader soon, maybe he can revive this innovation hub.
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