Technology Reinvestment Project

This testimony focuses on the Technology Reinvestment Project, an important Part of the Pentagon's dual-use technology strategy, which seeks to maintain technologically superior U.S. military forces at an affordable cost. Given declining defense budgets and rapid advances in commercial technology, the Defense Department believes that it must take advantage of cost-conscious, market-driven, commercial production and leverage the huge investments in leading-edge technologies made by private industry. DOD's dual-use strategy marks a significant change in the military's procurement philosophy--to move away from reliance on specialized suppliers serving only the defense market and rely as much as possible on other commercial suppliers. This testimony examines the difference between the Technology Reinvestment Project and other dual-use programs, the military relevance of selected projects, and changes in the Technology Reinvestment Project to place more emphasis on military needs.