The Defence Ministry is incorporating lessons learnt from the first phase of the Replicator initiative as it embarks on the next phase of efforts to put cutting-edge capabilities in the hands of the warfighter, said Aditi Kumar, deputy director of the Defence Innovation Unit (DIU).
He said the department is on track to meet its goal of deploying thousands of autonomous systems in various warfighting domains under Project Replicator 1, and has begun implementation of the second phase of the drone warfare capability initiative.
"Looking back, when he was [Replicator 1] first launched, and think about the timeline of how we're going to get it done in 24 months, it was very daunting," Kumar said during a discussion hosted by the Hudson Institute, a policy think tank in Washington. "But after 16 months we are in good shape."
Deputy Minister of Defence Kathleen Hicks unveiled the Replicator Initiative in August 2023 as one approach DOD is taking to address the challenges identified in the National Defense Strategy, which identifies China as a challenge to the United States.
The first iteration of the initiative focuses on deploying thousands of autonomous systems in various areas over the next 18 to 24 months as part of the Pentagon's strategy to counter the rapid growth of China's armed forces.
It focuses on the deployment of "attritable" capabilities - platforms that are unmanned and affordable - allowing commanders to tolerate a higher level of risk in their deployment.
"Our acquisition business is in full swing and our commercial suppliers are in full swing to get them off the production lines and into the hands of the warfighters," Kumar said.
He added that a key, overarching goal of the replicator is to improve the defense acquisition process at scale and accelerate the development and deployment of critical defense technologies.
To this end, DIU continues to focus on capturing lessons learned from each iteration of Replicator and applying them to the next iteration.
In September, Hicks laid out the direction for Replicator 2, which will focus on countering the threat posed by small unmanned aerial systems to warfighters and defenses.
Countering unmanned systems has become a major area of focus for the Pentagon, which has identified unmanned aerial systems as a significant threat to U.S. personnel and facilities abroad and, increasingly, in the United States.
Last week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III signed a classified strategy to combat the threat posed by unmanned systems that aims to unify the Defense Department's approach in various areas.
In describing the focus of Replicator 2, Hicks also laid out an 18-24 month timeline for getting capabilities into the hands of warfighters.
Kumar said the DIU is on track to meet these deadlines as it is implementing both phases of the initiative simultaneously.
He highlighted key lessons from the first phase that the DIU is applying in its next steps.
First, he said the DIU is working to further increase communication between the DoD and the private sector.
As an example, he said the DIU held a roundtable with commercial stakeholders and investors last week after the publication of the Unmanned Systems Strategy, "to really clarify our demand signal and the types of systems and capabilities that we're going to pursue in the Replicator 2 project."
Second, Kumar stressed the importance of addressing the most difficult problems early in the development process.
Kumar also stressed the importance of early and frequent communication with Congress. This, she said, helps to gain the support of lawmakers when the department begins to address the funding of this "huge challenge."
"We've already talked to them on the hill about how [Looks] Replicator 2, what types of abilities we want to deploy and in what locations," He said.
Pentagon/ gnews - RoZ
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