On January 28th, Hondo Geurts, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, and a Commissioner on Forward Defense‘s Commision on Software-Defined Warfare, testified to the Senate Committee on Armed Services Hearing on defense innovation and acquisition reform. Geurts emphasized the need for the Department of Defense to streamline its acquisition processes, reduce bureaucratic delays, and foster a culture of innovation to maintain a technological edge over adversaries like China. He also called for reforms to procurement protests, proposing limits on multiple challenges and disincentives for companies that habitually delay defense contracts.
Forward Defense, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, its allies, and partners. Our work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources the United States needs to deter and, if necessary, prevail in future conflict.
Forward Defense’s Commission on Software-Defined Warfare aims to digitally transform the armed forces for success in future battlefields. Comprised of a distinguished group of subject-matter and industry commissioners, the Commission has developed a framework to enhance US and allied forces through emergent digital capabilities.