LegiStorm

Summary:

Defense science and technology ( Defense S&T) is a term that describes a subset of Department of Defense (DOD) research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) activities . The Defense S&T budget is the aggregate of funding provided for the three earliest stages of DOD RDT&E: basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development. Defense S&T is of particular interest to Congress due to its perceived value in supporting technological advantage and its importance to key private sector and academic stakeholders. Advocates of strong and sustained Defense S&T fun ding assert that Defense S&T funding plays important and unique roles in the DOD innovation system, supporting medium - term, evolutionary technologies and incremental innovation that help improv e existing products and systems, as well as longer - term, revolu tionary technologies providing U.S. technological dominance , deterring conflict , and, when necessary, defeating adversaries. B oth evolutionary and revolutionary technologies are viewed by most warfighters and policymakers as central to U.S. national securi ty as well as to the lives of those serving in uniform. In FY2017, Defense S&T was $ 13.4 bill ion, nearly six times the FY197 8 level of $ 2.3 billion . M ost growth occurred from FY197 8 to FY200 6 , at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4 % . From FY2006 to FY2017, growth was slower ( 0.1 % CAGR). Most of the growth and volatility was in advanced technology development. In FY2017 constant dollars, Defense S&T funding peaked at $16.2 billion in FY2005 and declined by $2.8 billion through FY2017. In FY201 6 , basic research accounted for $2.2 billion of the Defense S&T total . The Navy accounted for the largest share of DOD basic research (29.2%), followed by the Defense - Wide agencies (27.6 %), Air Force (23.0 %), and Army (20.3 %). Universities and colleges perfor med nearly half ($1.1 billion, 48.8%) of DOD basic research in FY2016 ; DOD and other intramural federal laboratories performed 22.9%; industry, 18.2%; othe r non - profits, 7.5%; federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) , 0.7%; and others, 2. 0 %. A number of recommendations have been put forth by various organizations regarding the appropriate level of funding for Defense S&T and DOD basic research, as well as the level of funding for investments in research supporting potentially revolutionar y advancements . A 1998 Defense Science Board (DSB) report recommended setting Defense S&T at 3.4% of total DOD funding. I n 2001, the Quadrennial Defense Review recommended that 3.0% of total DOD funding be directed toward Defense S&T . In FY1996, Defense S &T was at the 3 .0 % level. It subsequently fell to 1.7% in FY2011 and has since risen to 2.2%. An alternative approach recommended by the DSB in 1998 was to set Defense S&T at a percentage of DOD RDT&E, similar to the industry ratio of research funding to t otal R&D funding (which it calculated for the pharmaceutical industry as 24%). In 2015 , the Coalition for National Security Research (CNSR), a coalition of industry, universities, and associations, recommended a target of 20%. At the time of the DSB report, S&T’s share of DOD RDT&E was approximately 2 1 %. After rising to 21.5% in FY2000, Defense S&T’s share fell to 15.2% in FY2011, and then rose to 17.9 % in FY2016. With respect to DOD basic research, the Council on Competitiveness (2004) and the CNSR ( 2015) recommended a target of at least 20 % of Defense S&T. As a share of Defense S&T, basic research declined from 14.6% in FY1996 to 11.0% in FY2006, then began a steady rise to 18.4% in FY2015. In FY2016, basic research’s share of Defense S&T was 17.4%. In its 1998 report, the DSB recommended that one - third of Defense S&T be devoted to research targeted toward revolutio nary technological advancements. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been the lead DOD agency focused on revolutiona ry R&D. In FY2017, DARPA accounted for 21.6% of D efense S&T .