In October 2024, the Hudson’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology and the National Defense Industrial Association Emerging Technologies Institute co-hosted an event to discuss the Department of Defense’s efforts in joint experimentation, and how the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER) is bridging the “Valley of Death” in ways that transcend funding gaps to acquisition. This report outlines why experimentation is needed, how joint experimentation benefits both DoD and industry, and the role of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering and the assistant secretary of defense for mission capabilities in identifying and transitioning new technologies.
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Gunners from the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire at Russian position with a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer 2C22 in the Kharkiv region on April 21, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images)