WEBVTT - Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll Talks Military Test Ranges 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:08.680 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is a really 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.680 big deal. It was a couple of months ago I 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.760 was out at one of our test ranges, and what 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:18.279 I heard was that industry on average was having to 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.599 wait between twelve and eighteen months sometimes from the moment 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:23.520 they wanted to get on our test range until we 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.479 could give them access. And fundamentally, the problem with this 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.200 is if you think of these innovative companies, if you 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:31.960 think of the primes, everyone needs to be able to 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:33.720 test their product and they need to be able to 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.879 learn from that, and the innovation loop that comes from 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.080 actually using your thing in the real world is makes 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.440 all the difference. And so when we slow things down 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.720 in the innovation loop by twelve or eighteen months at 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.280 a time, that is just bad for soldiers, it's bad 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.800 for taxpayers, and it's bad for companies. And so what 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.800 we're announcing today is basically a new front door to 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.480 access all of the US Armies or many of the 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.160 US Armies ranges were layering into international partners. We're going 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:01.959 to give concierge access and we are going to aspire 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.080 to get these companies onto our range within thirty days. 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:05.920 Every single time. 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:08.200 So then after they're on that range, I think a 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:10.640 lot of these companies are probably wondering how quickly can 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.039 they get into business with the US Army? If you 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.240 like what you see, how do those purchases. 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:16.200 Work from there? 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:17.880 What sort of timeline are you eyeing for that? 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.720 So under President Trump, what we've been able to do 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.720 is we've been able to reallocate dollars we already had, 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:26.360 and so we created almost a seven hundred and fifty 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.840 million dollar venturelike model that has allowed us to get 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:34.800 industry on contracts sometimes in under thirty days. That is unbelievable. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.119 I mean, I think if you looked historically, the fastest 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.679 time I had heard anyone ever referenced was like nine months, 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:42.839 but on average it could be up to two years sometimes. 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.319 And so our commitment to industry is we know that 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.600 they need dollars from the US Army in order to 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.520 continue their innovation. We know that if we're asking them 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.200 to come out and spend time with soldiers, get their 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.120 products in the dirt and the mud, and to innovate, 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:57.840 we have got to be there for them on the 0:01:57.840 --> 0:01:59.320 other side with actual hard dollars. 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.680 How are current conflicts highlighting the need for initiatives like 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.160 this and for the US Army to scale. Is there 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:07.360 a new urgency here? 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.519 I think if you look at what's occurring in Ukraine, 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:14.240 they have this existential risk to their nation that allows 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.200 them to innovate very quickly. You would never want to 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.240 have that risk as a nation. So what we're trying 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:23.760 to do is synthetically create the conditions for innovation that 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.720 can get as close to matching that environment as possible. 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.880 And so one of the things we're doing here at 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.400 Camp Gradling at September is we're creating an electronic warfare 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.320 in a ew environment that is as close to what 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.880 Ukraine has as we can create. We're inviting in small, medium, 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.639 and large businesses from across our country. We're having soldiers 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:46.840 come down. We are trying to empower these incredible American 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.240 innovators to do what they do best, which is to 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:50.880 outinnovate the rest of the world. 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.760 So the Army lives off of annual budgets, right, how 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:57.320 do you ensure that you're able to scale and grow 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.639 initiatives like this? And what is I think it's fair 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.480 to say pretty unpredictable funding cycle and how much weight 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.160 maybe does that put on the sixty seven billion dollar 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.520 fundamental supplemental package in terms of what the Army needs 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:11.120 to get done. 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.480 So, the quirk of the design of our democratic form 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.200 of government is our funding is annual. It is oftentimes 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:22.080 continuing resolutions, which means we can't do new starts on 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.560 our spending and that is full stop bad for soldiers, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.520 that is bad for our national security, and we must 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.200 as a nation fix it. That being said, what we 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.280 have tried to do is just accept that that has 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:35.720 been the reality. I think eighteen of the last twenty 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.280 one years we've had continuing resolutions. And so what the 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.480 United States Army has been trying to do under Secretary 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:45.280 of Hexcess leadership is innovate as fast as humanly possible 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.320 with what we do have. And we feel very good 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.840 that working with Congress and Senate and consolidating down some 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.480 of our budget line items, we are getting more flexibility 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:56.040 than we have had in the last couple of years, 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.200 not as much as we had a couple of decades ago, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:00.880 and we are taking that and earning back the trust 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.800 of Congress to give us even more going forward. 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.440 But is that putting any more weight on the supplemental 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.600 funding request the sixty seven billion dollars. 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.320 I think we need the supplemental, we need the reconciliation, 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:13.080 and we need the budget to be passed on time 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.120 that will lead to the most secure country that the 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.039 United States Army can possibly give it. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.760 So today is a lot about these low cost interceptors, drones, 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.000 counter drones. Can you talk to me about how you 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.479 assess what that mix should look like when it comes 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.520 to the higher end interceptors in US stockpiles. 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:37.520 So one of the big takeaways from Ukraine is the 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.080 very first thing you must do is create a data layer. 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:41.960 And what you want in your data layer is you 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:45.760 want as many sensors and radars as humanly possible, and 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.000 you want them to be able to fuse into tracks 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.520 and so practically what that means is you want to 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.400 be able to give yourself and your allies as much 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:54.960 warning as humanly possible. And so with the United States 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:56.760 Army has been focused on in the last couple of 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.520 months is what we're calling Operation jail Break, which is 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:02.279 basically we have said we are no longer going to 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.120 allow any sensor, any rate, or any piece of equipment 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:09.000 that we own to have data that is siloed. All 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:10.720 of it is getting broken out, and all of it, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.040 through APIs and SDKs is going to be able to 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.280 share the data and receive data or actions. That is 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:18.880 step one. Every new thing we're buying is already open source, 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.520 so we're good. So once we have this data layer, 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.520 and anywhere American soldiers exist, we want that data layer 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.760 to be as robust as humilily possible. The next step 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:31.000 is to layer in effectors or interceptors, and you want 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:33.760 as wide of a range of options as possible. On 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.320 the cheapest, lowest side, you want a fifty col round 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:39.320 that might cost a dollar, and you want to be 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.800 able to shoot that at something that's really close. So 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:43.680 on the highest end, you might want to pack three 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:46.760 that's now four point two million dollars or four point 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.080 four million dollars a shot. The key to defense, and 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.240 this layered concept is you want as many options as 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.720 humanly possible, all tied into an agentic solution with a 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.120 human in the loop that can choose between the right 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:01.760 option at any given moment. And so the answer is 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:06.840 actually there's no one perfect answer. Variability is the key 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:08.599 to success for conflict going forward. 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.080 In the final minute, that I have you how much 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.880 will initiatives like today compress timelines. Can you give us 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.320 any context on how many years you're looking at when 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:21.359 it comes to the army building up the stock piles. 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.000 So I think if you take the math of what 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.839 we believe for a lot of these most exquisite interceptors 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.120 and most exquisite offensive weapons, if it was taking twelve 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.320 to eighteen months each time to come to the range, 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.520 and we're consolidating that down to I am saying guarantee, 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:39.080 but I don't mean we will pay if we miss. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.440 But that is what we will hold ourselves publicly accountable. 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:43.640 If you can get to the range every thirty days, 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:46.240 what we hope to do is cut out at least 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.720 a third of the R and D time, which will 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:50.360 make a huge difference for soldiers.