Don't miss a single development: NATO's cutting-edge innovation search and implementation system
It was private companies that became the engine of military-technical progress around the globe. Their developments touched literally everything - from radar control computers to personal equipment. Photo source: 5.11Tacltical.jp
One of the most interesting events of the current year was the establishment by the NATO countries of a new system for introducing innovations. Unfortunately, in the domestic information space, it was practically not covered in any way: such events, seemingly related to bureaucracy, do not naturally cause a stir - but in vain. After all, in the end, a competent military bureaucracy often turns out to be weapons much more terrible than cruise missiles and strategic bombers - and today we will try to understand why.
“On Friday 22 October, Defense Ministers of 17 NATO countries and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signed a declaration establishing the Innovation Fund and agreed to agree on the Fund's activities, functions and funding model prior to the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid.
The multinational fund is said to help NATO maintain its technological edge by providing an opportunity to invest € XNUMX billion in dual-use technologies that can be used in defense and security, ”
The multinational fund is said to help NATO maintain its technological edge by providing an opportunity to invest € XNUMX billion in dual-use technologies that can be used in defense and security, ”
- a statement from the news block on the official website of the NATO bloc.
It is fair to say that such topics are often raised to one degree or another, however, the common reader is often incomprehensible to the scathing office of official resolutions, and in 99% of cases he associates the word "startup" with young entrepreneurs who want to open a new coffee shop or IT office. ...
But what is the point of such actions and why does the North Atlantic Alliance need a fund to support innovation?
Today, competition in the field of technological progress has taken on truly prohibitive proportions: even large corporations, government think tanks and military-industrial commissions in the first world countries do not cope with peer review and analysis of the potential benefits of the latest technologies.
The volume of ideas and developments is colossal, with each country striving to overtake a competitor - after all, a single successfully made high-tech product, even for the civilian market, can literally determine the future position of a state in the world.
It will be fair to say that it is mainly private firms that drive and improve scientific and technological progress.
In order not to go into the jungle of developing high-tech weapons, let's take as an example the simpler topic of individual equipment.
What does the equipment of every self-respecting professional soldier consist of?
Gore-Tex membrane fabric. Heavy-duty Cordura fabric. Duraflex hardware and YKK zippers. Vibram soles.
It can be listed for a long time, only one thing is important - these are the world's best high-tech materials created by private manufacturers, but at the same time their value was not immediately realized by the military. Somewhere from the mid-80s, advanced technologies began to first capture the civilian market, and only then adapt to the needs of the army - and this adaptation too often depended on people whose competence was in great doubt.
It was obvious that this was a new challenge to the entire management system. America was the first to react to it - 15 years ago, the US Security Council decided to introduce PPP (public-private partnership) models - the creation of a wide network of searching for scientific and technical innovations, original know-how and effective business models. One of the clearest examples of the efficiency of this system is the rocket and space startup of the world famous Elon Musk.
Naturally, major players in the scientific and technical market with their resources are focused on large breakthrough projects. A wide market for small but important solutions remains beyond their capabilities - and this is where startups do the best. After all, any startup is, in fact, an effective niche solution, which often outstrips demand with a ready-made offer.
In addition, 10 years ago, US government departments - DARPA, NASA, the US Army Air Force began a program for the wide development of the grant system in universities, technology parks, and the business community around the scientific environment. These government structures issue tens of thousands of grants and micro-grants per year on a wide range of issues, acting according to the sieve method in search of successful scientific and technical solutions. This gives impressive results in terms of efficiency, especially since certain experimental innovations can be immediately embodied in metal on the experimental industrial base of technoparks and university laboratories.
Separately, it should be said that Great Britain is also interested in such a reform of the bureaucratic apparatus. This year, London has published two key documents that describe the strategy of the British government in the field of development and implementation of innovations extremely well: "Global Britain in a competitive age: a comprehensive review of security, defense, development and foreign policy" (Global Britain in a competitive age - The Integrated Review of Security, Defense, Development and Foreign Policy), and Defense in a competitive age.
The British are seriously concerned about this issue - in the end, in order to get a talented inventor, you first need to find him and not let his competitors take him away.
So what can we see in the above documents?
1. The state in the vision of London strategists is the main investor of all scientific and technical start-up projects. Its main task in the era of systemic competition is to provide the most favorable environment for scientific research and promising projects. To summarize the essence of one proposal, then a modern power is a huge technopark.
2. Facilitation of entry into the UK for all qualified professionals. For this purpose, the so-called. "Talent management" - people of interest to the crown (students, academics, highly skilled workers) will enter the country under a simplified program and as soon as possible.
3. Expansion of the government staff and the creation of structures that will analyze, develop and promote the scientific and technological achievements of Britain.
4. The state ensures full control of the process: from research to commercialization. It provides stable financing, legal regulation, production capacity, searches for technology buyers and their final implementation.
5. The country should actively invest in R&D - this is one of the most important areas of its work. It is worth adding that London is investing at least £ 800 million in the creation of an independent body for high-risk and high-paying research - the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).
In fact, the main priority of Great Britain is to actively attract high-quality human material from all over the world (no national power can compete with one that relies exclusively on national human resources), and to create the most comfortable conditions for creative activity for it.
The state ultimately becomes a kind of corporation that actively buys out new ideas and fights for new sales markets.
Science and technology are becoming the fuel not only of the economy, but also of the very process of expanding the state's sphere of influence.
Barrett rifles are a prime example of "garage development" that has grown into a solid weapons industry serving a wide range of armies around the world. Photo source: 19FortyFive.com
Now such a structure for searching, analyzing, evaluating and implementing advanced developments will be scaled to the entire NATO bloc. Again, special emphasis should be placed on the fact that it enables small beginner firms to demonstrate innovative projects immediately at the level of higher authorities.
This will definitely have a positive effect on their competitiveness of relatively large players, as well as save a lot of money and time for the entire alliance - after all, this system, in fact, destroys the monopoly of the arms giants, which traditionally requested very solid financial support for the development of even relatively small projects (which sometimes did not give a guarantee of a successful result).
In order to show the reader the effectiveness of this system in practice, you can cite the "Ripsaw M5" project from the private company Textron Systems and Howe & Howe Inc.
Back in 2018, it was nothing more than the fruit of "garage engineering" (like the famous Barrett rifle, whose prototype was made in a garage) - two brothers of the enthusiast conceived to make a very fast unmanned tracked transporter. They succeeded in their venture - the device demonstrated incredible characteristics and accelerated to 100 km / h in 4 seconds.
After three years, the development of enthusiasts has become one of the most important projects of the US Department of Defense under the designation Robotic Combat Vehicle ("Robotic combat vehicle"). The vehicle is being actively tested at military training grounds as a high-speed multifunctional platform, which will be produced in three versions and is planned to be put into service by 2030.
Thanks to competent management, the "Robotic Combat Vehicle" from an amateur development has become one of the most promising world projects in the field of military robotics. Photo source: OvertDefense.com
NATO's new program is needed precisely in order to look for such talents even at the idea stage, provide them with funding, resources and assist in development.
It is an advanced system for the accumulation of scientific and engineering personnel, as well as their projects - a system that must be taken into account, studied and learned from.
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