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Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering

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Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering

News & Events

Senior Officials Announced for the War Department’s Six Critical Technology Areas

OUSW(R&E) has appointed six accountable senior officials to oversee the tangible sprints within the War Department’s six critical technology areas.

SecWar-Hegseth-announced-DoW-AI-Acceleration-Strategy

Release of the War Department's AI Acceleration Strategy

This strategy is built on three pillars: warfighting, intelligence, and enterprise operations. It will be executed through seven key "Pace-Setting Projects" designed to rapidly advance capabilities.

SecWar-Hegseth-and-USDRE-Emil-Michael-visit-DARPA

DoW's Innovation Ecosystem

Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an overhaul of the War Department’s innovation ecosystem, which will now be led by Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of Research and Engineering and the Department’s CTO.

R&E Strengthens Measures to Protect DoW Funded Research

R&E announces the publication of the Fundamental Research Security Initiatives and Implementation memorandum. This memorandum establishes new actions to protect DoW funded research from malign foreign influence, intellectual property theft, and other forms of exploitation that threaten the security and economic interests of the United States.

GENAI.MIL

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the launch of GenAI.mil, the War Department's new AI platform. This initiative is designed to create an “AI-first” enterprise by embedding generative AI into daily operations for all 3 million DoW personnel.

Hon Emil Michael

New CTA Announcement

Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering Emil Michael officially released 6 new Critical Technology Areas (CTAs) to guide Department-wide technology priorities: Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI), Biomanufacturing (BIO), Contested Logistics Technology (LOG), Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance (Q-BID), Scaled Directed Energy (SCADE), and Scaled Hypersonics (SHY).

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and USD(R&E) Emil Michael toured our "drone petting zoo" in the Pentagon courtyard today to see American-made prototypes that have been rapidly developed in 12-24 months. Mr. Alex Lovett of R&E's Mission Capabilities Office showcased low-cost, high-performance UAS platforms, including the XQ-58 Valkyrie, LUCAS, and Vanilla, highlighting their unique launch methods, payload versatility, and long-endurance capabilities.

Unleashing U.S. Drone Dominance

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and USW(R&E) Emil Michael toured our "drone petting zoo" in the Pentagon courtyard on July 16th, 2025, to see American-made prototypes that have been rapidly developed in 12-24 months.

APFIT Program Breaks Records

The Littoral Explosive Ordinance and Neutralization (LEON) Amphibious Unmanned Ground Vehicle, an FY25 APFIT project, exits the water after clearing surf-zone mines in an exercise.

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Hon. Emil Michael met with new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director Stephen Winchell yesterday to discuss the exciting innovation breakthroughs of the future.

DARPA Connection

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Hon. Emil Michael, met with new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director Stephen Winchell on June 10th, 2025 to discuss the exciting innovation breakthroughs of the future.

Updates from Across the R&E Enterprise

Digital Engineering Practice

October 8, 2021

October 8, 2021 The Department of Defense (DoD) requires robust engineering practices and modern weapon systems to defeat adversaries. To remain competitive, the DoD is adopting digital engineering practices in developing defense systems. According to Philomena Zimmerman, Digital Engineering lead within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), digital…

Cyber Table Top Methodology in Test and Evaluation

October 1, 2021

October 1, 2021 The Cyber Table Top (CTT) method is a type of mission-based cyber risk assessment that defense programs can use to produce actionable information on potential cyber threats across a system’s acquisition life cycle. Actionable information includes potential system vulnerabilities, demonstrated means of exploitation of those vulnerabilities, and an assessment of the resulting…

2021 Class of LUCI Fellows

September 30, 2021

September 30, 2021 The Basic Research Office at OUSD (R&E) is pleased to announce the 2021 class of Laboratory-University Collaboration (LUCI) Fellows. LUCI fellows are highly accomplished 6.1 researchers in the DoD laboratories that wish to partner with top tier DoD-funded academic researchers. This program is very competitive. The review process involved Program Officers of…

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Office of the Under Secretary of War,
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3030 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3030

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The Pentagon

Office of the Under Secretary of War,
Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E))
3030 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3030