9th Annual Disruptive Technologies Conference

Introduction

This meeting is CLASSIFIED - SECRET.

The NDIA C4ISR Division will convene the 9th Annual Disruptive Technologies Conference as a forum of discussion and opportunity for government and industry senior technologists, product engineers and strategists to identify and promote the development of technology that will contribute to "Superior Capability of Operations in the Global Commons.”  

Science and Technology (S&T) advancements are key enablers when it comes to the creation of capability surprise and sustaining capability superiority. New technology can support the achievement of new capabilities to fill gaps identified through intelligence and military operations. It is essential to maintain awareness of emerging threats, but also prudent to increase the focus on game changing capabilities to meet the challenges of superior operations in the “global commons.” Operating in the “global commons” comprise the geographic and virtual means of space, international waters and airspace, and cyberspace. U.S. and Coalition forces must dominate in order to be successful in space, cyber, air, EM spectrum and anti-access regions around the world. It remains critical that U.S. space-based assets perform without any degradation of performance. The loss of GPS or the untimely disruption of C3 as well as ISR systems due to an adversary’s “intrusion” could put at risk the safety of U.S. and Coalition forces and the attainment of the commanders’ intent to sustain superior movement and effects-based capabilities upon our adversaries.  

Thus in January 2012, President Obama and Secretary of Defense Panetta jointly outlined a new national defense strategy driven by three realities: the winding down of a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a fiscal crisis demanding hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon budget cuts and a rising threat from China and Iran. The Defense Strategy 2012 sets the department’s priorities in the coming years around financing for defense and offense in cyberspace, for Special Operations forces and for the broad area of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.  Investing in cyberwarfare and unmanned drones will thus continue to grow in priority, as would countering attempts by rogue nations whose anti-access intentions seek to block U.S. power projection capabilities in areas like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.  Included in this new strategy is the shift in focus that will address a new array of next generation doctrine and weapons to deter and impede the prevention of U.S. naval and air forces from projecting power into the Far East. Even the perception of a degraded ability to maintain access to the “Global Commons” could lead to regional instability.

Conference Goal

To explore the C4 and ISR technology underpinnings associated with the concerns and challenges contained in the Defense Strategy 2012 and the implications upon sustaining military superior operations in the global commons and thus continue military superiority over adversaries who seek to deny access or accomplishment of U.S. and Coalition objectives.