Bioengineering, lasers and more drones: Griffin outlines the Pentagon’s tech wish list
By: Aaron Mehta  
The Pentagon's tech chief says laser weapons are the future of warfare, and always will be. (U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — If the U.S. wants to maintain its military edge over competitors Russia and China, it has to be smart with how it invests its relatively limited research and development funds.
The good news for the Pentagon? Mike Griffin, its technology head, has a plan.
Griffin, speaking Wednesday at the 2019 Defense News Conference, argued that the strategic picture around the world has dramatically changed in the last 20 years, with the long-standing global order shifting and the Pentagon adjusting accordingly.
“New weapons have been built. New strategic alliances have been formed. New behavior has emerged, behavior we had hoped we consigned to the past. So what might work? Realistically, we’re not going to change the values of our peer competitors. We’re not going to outnumber them,†Griffin said. “What we can do is maintain a clear overmatch in both capability and capacity, and those two axes are different.â€
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2019/09/04/bioengineering-lasers-and-more-drones-griffin-outlines-the-pentagons-tech-wishlist/
