Amid a bevy of Defense Department (DoD) modernization efforts, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is praising the Army Futures Command (AFC) for advancing the military’s efforts in cyberspace.
Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army Conference on October 15, Esper discussed efforts underway that span the gamut of emerging technologies and are supported by AFC, in the larger context of the National Defense Strategy.
“Only a few years ago, Futures Command was nothing more than a concept. Today, General Mike Murray and his team in Austin, Texas, are pioneering the development of emerging technologies for multi-domain operations,” Esper noted. He highlighted the Project Convergence effort within AFC, which aims to provide edge computing to improve the information available to troops.
Underlying these modernization efforts is the need to protect the country’s technological advantage in the great powers competition against China and Russia.
“Our competitors and adversaries exploit cyberspace as a means to undermine our advantages without confronting our conventional strengths,” he said.
Esper also emphasized cooperation between partners, both domestic and international, including cooperation around data.
“In order to integrate these concepts with state-of-the-art technology, we must be able to exchange and synchronize information across systems, services, and platforms. And we must do so seamlessly across all domains,” he said.