Pentagon R&D chief outlines five priority technology areas and urges faster transition to warfighters

James Maisel, performing the duties of Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, told the House Armed Services Committee's Cyber, IT, and Innovation Subcommittee that the Department of Defense must accelerate development and transition of critical technologies to the field.

"We don't have the time or money to waste. We need to move out now to to develop, test, field, and scale the technologies that will be required for United States to win on the battlefields," Maisel said in his opening testimony.

Maisel told members the department is concentrating oversight and priority-setting on five of 14 critical technology areas: microelectronics, artificial intelligence, hypersonics, directed energy and quantum information science. He said the R&E enterprise aligns nearly $150,000,000,000 in annual research, development, test and evaluation funding to those modernization priorities.

On microelectronics, Maisel highlighted programs such as Trusted and Assured Microelectronics and the Microelectronics Commons program to secure supply chains and protect access to advanced chips for military systems. On AI, he cited the joint fires network — an AI-enabled capability linking diverse sensors and shooters — as an example of how the department expects AI to change operations.

On hypersonics, he said the department is pursuing industrial affordability initiatives and testing infrastructure. For directed energy, Maisel pointed to programs such as the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative to transition lasers to the services and stimulate the industrial base. For quantum information science, he said priority work includes quantum sensors and atomic clocks for near-term operational advantage and leveraging commercial quantum computing for classified modeling and simulation.

Maisel said the department emphasizes disciplined prototyping and experimentation that produce the modeling, simulation, operational assessments and technical documentation necessary for services to adopt new capabilities. "We select technologies based on their potential to solve defined joint operational problems and validated joint requirements," he said, adding that attention to details such as military utility assessments and authority-to-operate (ATO) completion are major factors in successful transitions.

He also cited the ManTech (Manufacturing Technology) program as the department's statutorily mandated effort to advance American manufacturing technology for defense and highlighted the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) as a tool to attract private capital; Maisel said OSC expects to award its first loans "as early as this summer." Maisel urged Congress to avoid "innovation theater" and to support investments that generate a body of evidence for transition.

Members pressed Maisel on several fronts. Ranking Member Ro Khanna praised bipartisan work on innovation policy and asked about WAIs from the White House; Maisel said the department receives advice from the Director of National Intelligence's office referenced in the hearing but that final decisions remain with civilian leadership in R&E. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and others pressed on the department's ability to synchronize hundreds of innovation organizations and to change culture so services will accept and fund transitioned technology.

Rep. Lori Trahan and Rep. Zoe Lofgren raised biotechnology and whole-of-government implications. Maisel said biotech is within the department's remit and that R&E maintains a principal director responsible for overseeing biotech investments and roadmapping service investments. He said the commission on biotechnology recommendations are "right over the target" on the need for coordinated strategy.

The undersecretary also noted NC3 enterprise modernization remains a multi-year effort, calling for a more focused and integrated approach. "Then secretary Mattis started this effort 7 years ago, and we're still churning on it today with very limited progress to date," Maisel said, adding that NC3 will require sustained, integrated effort across DOD.

The subcommittee asked for further briefings and follow-up as the department finalizes budget details and moves to implement new authorities and programs.

Maisel closed by urging continued collaboration with Congress so "our warfighters have the cutting edge capabilities they need to defend the nation."