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AUSTIN, Texas — As the Army expands efforts to shape and modernize the future force, it is coordinating with experts across the U.S. government to ensure breakthrough advances in future warfighting equipment and strategies are protected from adversaries.
Army Futures Command leaders recently met with Dr. Stacey Dixon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, at the command’s Austin headquarters to discuss Army-led modernization activities and technological innovations. The visit included a trip to the nearby Army Software Factory, where Soldiers shared with Dr. Dixon their motivations for wanting to contribute directly to the creation of new tech solutions for the Army.
“Deep partnerships across government are essential to maintaining a competitive technological advantage for the U.S., and I enjoyed meeting firsthand the talented Soldiers who are equipping warfighters with modern, tech-enabled solutions to advance our national security,” said Dr. Dixon. Dr. Dixon’s visit also underscored the critical importance of safeguarding development in future tools and concepts — an aim shared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Army.
Through its Tech Protect initiative and rigorous information review process, the Army is actively minimizing the risk of compromising sensitive or proprietary information to ensure the U.S. maintains substantial technological advantages.
“We’re putting in a tremendous amount of effort at AFC to develop state-of-the art systems, equipment and strategies that will provide us with technological overmatch on future battlefields,” said Ed Mornston, Director of Intelligence and Security at Army Futures Command.
“Protecting these advances from compromise by those who seek to do us harm is a central part of our planning,” Mornston said.
The Army estimates that in recent years, 80 percent of compromised information has been obtained through unclassified or improperly secured controlled unclassified information.
With the implementation of Tech Protect, however, the Army, working with the Intelligence Community, has established additional protections to prevent foreign interests from stealing valuable intellectual property and repurposing if for their own military advances.
This enhanced protection posture, which includes reducing unprotected information exchange, ensures that Army modernization activities are able to proceed uninterrupted and ultimately deliver unrivaled operational capabilities to the future force.
By Maureena Thompson, Army Futures Command