USSOCOM seeks to expand industry ecosystem, wants more prototyping submissions
NewsMay 07, 2024
SOF WEEK 2024 -- TAMPA, Florida. U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is trying to expand the industry ecosystem it relies on for the development of new technology and platforms, said SOCOM Acquisition Executive Melissa A. Johnson at SOF Week.
"We're bringing in the investment capital community," Johnson said. "We have a very diverse industry ecosystem, but there's definitely more to be done."
The service has received more than 22,000 submissions through its Vulcan program, which it uses to develop innovative solutions. There have also been a total of 1,273 submissions through its Engage SOF (eSOF) program that helps with conducting market research.
"The amount of people that are submitting ideas for prototyping technology is phenomenal," she said. "That's what we need. Keep bringing it on."
There have also been more than 200 technical experiments. These experiments "help us to learn really early," Johnson said.
"If we're going to iterate fast and get capability to the field, we have to ruthlessly experiment," she said. "This is just an indicator that we're doing that very well."
