Keynote, Statement, Other
The Future of American Defense
- Dan Driscoll, Secretary of the Army, declares that current warfare has reached an inflection point where traditional Army acquisition methods are insufficient against evolving threats.
- The Army has formally discarded its existing acquisition playbook to prioritize commercially developed, modular, open system solutions.
- Operational requirements now demand dominance across diverse and extreme environments, ranging from the Arctic and archipelagos to space and subterranean settings.
- Specific procurement priorities include:
- Low-cost interceptors and components designed to reduce the cost per kill.
- Next-generation sensors, software, payloads, and hardware compatible with open system architecture.
- Cutting-edge drones, resilient logistics networks, and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
- Equipment capable of surviving the most extreme climates on Earth.
- The Army is actively providing both capital and proving grounds to startups to scale these innovations.
- Driscoll identifies the current moment as optimal for private sector founders to engage in building ground combat solutions.