ADELPHI, Md. (March 4, 2014) – U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, director Dr. Thomas Russell approved the final technical implementation plan that will guide the laboratory’s technical strategy through 2019.
The implementation plan is the final element of ARL’s technical strategy.
As the laboratory’s first overarching plan to guide the portfolio for land-power dominance for the Army of 2030 and beyond, this comprehensive document provides an in-depth view of major research thrusts that will be critical to future unified land operations.
“ARL is involved in fundamental research to address S&T [science and technology] challenges that advance Army capabilities in the long term,” said Dr. Troy Alexander, ARL’s associate for strategic planning. “The technical implementation plan increases transparency to the approach.”
The laboratory is shaping its S&T program to support the future direction of the Army, Alexander said.
The new guidance includes an overarching strategy first published last year; an overview of the eight major campaigns that will guide the research portfolio over the next 20 years, which was published in December; and now, the implementation plan that adds greater clarity to the challenges and areas where the laboratory will devote significant in-house investment in the near future.
ARL’s major in-house thrusts are computational sciences; materials research; sciences-for maneuver; information sciences; sciences-for-lethality and protection; human sciences; and assessment and analysis. Among those campaigns, there are 24 program areas.
The strategy is carefully aligned with the Army Training and Doctrine Command’s guidance. According to the Army Operating Concept, “As new military technologies are more easily transferred, potential threats emulate U.S. military capabilities to counter U.S. power projection and limit U.S. freedom of action.”
The process to transition new advanced technologies to Soldiers begins in the earliest stages of the scientific process with the Army Research Laboratory, where scientists and engineers take what is sometimes the first look at scientific research with potential Army applications.