Innovation in military technology showcased at DoD event
NewsNovember 02, 2023
NATIONAL GUARD CAMP ATTERBURY-MUSCATATUCK, Ind. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Indiana National Guard hosted the second iteration of the Technology Readiness Experimentation 2023 event (T-REX) at Muscatatuck Training Center/Camp Atterbury, Indiana during mid-October, as part of the T-REX assessment of technologies that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) deems critical to warfighting efforts.
T-REX is a major part of the DoD's Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER), which facilitates modernization efforts through rapid prototyping and experimentation of integrated joint military technologies; RDER prototypes are used and assessed at T-REX events for validation before they are fielded.
The assessment aligns with the DoD's push to develop uncrewed, multidomain, autonomous systems with resilient communications that can be used underwater, on land, in the air, and in space.
During the October T-REX event, participants carried out 11 full-scale assessments of new and innovative warfighting technologies from both traditional and nontraditional defense companies, measuring the effectiveness of the technologies and determining their capability for further development based on the Joint Force's needs. The exercise also included entrants from Australia and the U.K., who have partnered with the DoD as it seeks to expand its science and technology capabilities.
"Experimentation like T-REX allow us to better understand the next-generation technologies being developed across the defense innovation base so we can take steps to expedite their transition and fielding," said Dr. David Honey, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. "This ultimately helps the DoD deter aggression and keep our troops safe."
Technologies that successfully demonstrated capability at T-REX 23-2 advance to a graduation experiment, such as Northern Edge or Valiant Shield, as part of the RDER campaign.
