To best China, Pentagon must shed "the same old mindsets"
Colin Demarest
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, a woman wearing a blue blazer and shirt underneath, delivers a speech at a tech conference. The background is accented with white letters.
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks delivers a speech Aug. 7, 2024. Photo: Colin Demarest/Axios
Pentagon officials say the U.S. stands at the precipice of a new golden age of defense innovation driven by upstart contractors, advances in technology and a world brimming with threats.
Why it matters: The Defense Department's inability to make unorthodox bets, feed a vibrant industrial base and embrace readily available technologies has rendered it under-supplied, the target of dual-use evangelists and vulnerable to more nimble adversaries.
Driving the news: Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a speech last week the department "cannot tolerate the same old mindsets" as it butts heads with Russia and China, while also invoking America's mass production overhaul during World War II.
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/14/defense-innovation-hicks-ndia
