scholarly journals Technology and Policy: System Acquisition in a Complex Operational Environment

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Arthur Middlebrooks ◽  
Jackson Brownfield ◽  
Gabriel Lajeunesse ◽  
Ryan Leach ◽  
Christopher Sharfin

The United States’ (US) ability to maintain a technological edge in the current operational environment is challenged by the increased ability of near-peer nations to produce military technology. In response to this problem, the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) seeks to model the three key elements of military system acquisition—context, product, and process—to develop a more comprehensive understanding regarding how and why nations acquire technical solutions. Through the application of the System Dynamics Modeling Process (SDMP), this research examines the interactions between the strategic context of Germany, the military products it acquires to address its operational needs, and the processes it employs to acquire military technology. The results of this research indicate that numerous dynamic variables of context impact the acquisitions process for Germany, particularly political support and subsequent monetary allocations to research and development.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pittman ◽  
J. Buchanan ◽  
Deborah Quimby

The ERDC 2020–2030 Strategy outlines the origination of the organization, future direction, and the methods used to accomplish its research and development mission. The Strategy details the Ends (where we are going and why), the Ways (how we will get there), and the Means (the resources needed to get there) by which we will achieve the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) strategy. To realize its vision and maintain its world-class status, ERDC strives to be the go-to organization for the Warfighter and the nation to solve large complex problems in its mission space. To strengthen the outcomes from the Ends, Ways, and Means, ERDC has adopted the philosophy of the Understand-Predict-Shape (UPS) paradigm. The UPS paradigm maximizes the potential of ERDC’s current research programs and helps contemplate, develop, and define the organization’s future portfolio. UPS represents a holistic view of the operational environment: How to better Understand the Present, Predict the Future, and Shape the Outcome. The ERDC leadership team has looked toward the future and defined major strategic Science and Technology campaigns that offer challenges that ERDC can, and should, effectively address.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1855-1864
Author(s):  
Olga Zoric ◽  
Katarina Jonev ◽  
Ivan Rancic

The author starts from the informational dimension of the operational environment in a strategic reality and deal with the problem of defining informational power from the theoretical and practical aspect of information warfare.The deliberations in the work are aimed to initiate a procedure for auditing of the security documents in order to create a legal basis for the operationalization of the content of information security, as one of the aspects of integral security of the Republic of Serbia. The paper deals with the conceptual determinations and importance of information, information warfare and information operations, as well as the content of information warfare, pointing out the strategic and doctrinal definitions of the information warfare of the United States of America, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Serbia. It is necessary to accurately and objectively observe world achievements in the field of national security and the relation of the most powerful world powers to the problem of information warfare. Based on a comparative analysis of world trends and the state of the theoretical and practical aspects of information security of the Republic of Serbia, the focus is on work, where measures are proposed to improve the security function in the fourth unit of work.


Author(s):  
D.B. Izyumov ◽  
E.L. Kondratyuk

The article discusses issues related to the development and use of training means and facilities in order to improve the level of training of US Army personnel. An overview of the main simulators used in the US Armed Forces at present is given, and the prospects for the development of the United States in this area are presented.


2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Mack Kennedy ◽  
Karsten Pruess ◽  
Marcelo J. Lippmann ◽  
Ernest L. Majer ◽  
Peter E. Rose ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Nix ◽  
David E. Nix

This study reviews the literature and the practice of accounting for research and development (R&D) costs from the first reference in 1917 to the current treatment. The conceptual treatment of R&D is compared to current financial accounting rules and explanation of the evolution of the current rules is presented. The economic and social consequences of the current rules which require R&D costs to be expressed are examined. The paper explores possible alternative treatment of R&D costs. As a contrast to U.S. practice, the accounting treatment of R&D costs in other countries is discussed. Given the findings of this paper, a strong case can be made for changing the way that R&D costs are accounted for in the United States.


1999 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vally Koubi

Because of the nature of modern weapons, significant innovations in arms technology have the potential to induce dramatic changes in the international distribution of power. Consider, for example, the “strategic defense initiative” (SDI), a program initiated by the United States in the early 1980s. Had the program been successfully completed, it might have led to a substantial devaluation of Soviet nuclear capabilities and put the United States in a very dominant position. It should not then come as a surprise that interstate rivalry, especially among super powers, often takes the form of a race for technological superiority. Mary Acland-Hood claims that although the United States and the Soviet Union together accounted for roughly half of the world's military expenditures in the early 1980s, their share of world military research and development (R&D) expenditures was about 80 percent. As further proof of the perceived importance of R&D, note that whereas the overall U.S. defense budget increased by 38 percent (from $225.1 billion to $311.6 billion in real terms) from 1981 to 1987, military R&D spending increased by 100 percent (from $20.97 billion to $41.96 billion). Moreover, before World War II military R&D absorbed on average less than 1 percent of the military expenditure of major powers, but since then it has grown to 11–13 percent. The emphasis on military technology is bound to become more pronounced in the future as R&D becomes the main arena for interstate competition.


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