Top U.S. Navy commander urges industry to focus on technology development to compete with China and Russia

Aug. 16, 2021
Unmanned technologies will be important in the near future, as a significant proportion of sea and air assets will be unmanned as early as next decade.

WASHINGTON – Top military commanders are urging defense industry leaders to concentrate on new technology for weapons and ships that the Navy needs to compete with rival nations such as China and Russia. Stars and Stripes reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

16 Aug. 2021 -- Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, requested that the defense industry stop lobbying Congress to build equipment the Navy no longer wants and instead focus on technology development that revolves around new technologies and new platforms.

“Lobbying Congress to buy aircraft that we don't need ... it's not helpful,” the Navy's top officer said earlier this month at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference in Washington.

In the proposed 2022 Navy budget, service leaders call for canceling one of two guided-missile destroyers planned for 2022 and speeding the divestment of F/A-18 Hornet jet fighter-bombers. Congress has been critical of the plans, proposing to save the second guided-missile destroyer, and regularly questioning divestments.

Related: 2022 DOD budget proposes record spending next year for U.S. military research and technology development

Related: Pentagon seeks $104.29 billion military research budget for 2020 -- an increase of 8.7 percent

Related: DOD budget pushing house cleaning pivot to leading-edge technologies: out with the old and in with the new

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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