Gov't News: Pentagon Pushes Forward with Next-Gen Defense Technology

April 25, 2014 - PRLog -- The Defense Department is continuing its work to build a next generation military force by investing in research and development.

The Pentagon says it will invest $63 billion for its research, development, test and evaluation programs in fiscal year 2014.

Also, the DoD plans to spend  $214 million on the U.S. Air Force’s Space Fence program, $113 million on the Army’s WIN-T network and $145 million on a missile defense radar.

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The Navy has begun testing a piece of next generation technology by installing 3-D printers on its ships.

According to an ExecutiveGov article, the Navy has used 3D printer prototypes to build ship components on land.

"Additive manufacturing has to get to the point where a part printed on the machine has the same strength and overall properties that a cast part has," said Lt. Benjamin Kohlmann, a member of the Chief of Naval Operations' Rapid Innovation Cell group.

The article says that the additive manufacturing industry was worth $2 billion worldwide in 2013.

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