by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle
Members of the Indiana National Guard are testing dozens of new defense technologies this week as part of a federal program meant to expedite new tools to the battlefield.
The event, dubbed Technology Experimentation 2024 or T-REX, runs from Aug. 19-28 at Camp Atterbury, in Johnson County. It’s the second year the program has been held in Indiana.
Hosted via a partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Indiana National Guard, the technology demonstrations and “tactical scenario” exercises support the Pentagon’s Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER), which funds promising prototypes that can be quickly fielded to military users.
“Technology changes quickly. Threats change rapidly, and our traditional acquisition process just doesn’t often keep pace,” said Marcia Holmes, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for mission capabilities, speaking at Camp Atterbury on Tuesday. “RDER reaches down into development, and it pulls out those capabilities that show promise to the joint fight to accelerate now. They might have been overlooked through a service lens … and you just don’t see them.”
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Holmes called RDER a “priority” for her office. The effort, which T-REX is intended to support, is aimed at identifying and fast-tracking prototypes so that promising technologies can be more rapidly fielded to combatant commanders to address joint warfighting needs, Holmes said. The DOD requested $450 million for the program in the 2025 fiscal year.
Joint warfighting is a key part of the Pentagon’s science and technology strategy, released in 2023, in which RDER plays a key role. The department created the experimentation fund in 2021 to address high-need capability gaps shared across the military services.
“Too often, our commanders find gaps when they analyze joint operations in the joint battlefield, and those gaps can often be filled with technology somewhere out there, either in industry or out in our service labs, and that’s where RDER steps in,” Holmes added. “Let me be very clear, we cannot close those gaps and scale production without this type of experimentation.”
New defense tech put to the test
Holmes said the nearly 80 technologies currently on display at Camp Atterbury were selected for testing in 2022. If successful, those projects will advance towards acquisition and operation in 2025.
Various signal devices, cyber protection, counterintelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities were up for testing and assessed during simulated disaster scenarios, according to state and federal officials.
San Diego-headquartered Firestorm Labs, for example, showcased its “Tempest 50” drone, which can be easily assembled, disassembled and transported, in addition to being “rapidly produced” at a low cost, according to representatives at the defense technology startup.
Altaeros, based in Massachusetts, separately tested its “ST-Flex,” a portable, rapid-response aerial cell tower. The blimp is designed to provide network capabilities for first responders, rural communities and other remote application needs.
Also present was Swiftships, a Louisiana-based shipbuilder, which introduced a new maritime innovation — a small, unmanned surface vehicle called the Swift-Sea-Stalker.
Designed for surveillance and “interdiction missions”, the drone is tailored to operate in challenging waterways found in conflict zones, including the Horn of Africa and South China Sea regions. The technology can be remotely operated or function autonomously, offering “flexibility and efficiency” in maritime operations, company representatives said.
The experimental technology was developed by small businesses, non-traditionals, universities and various “Big Defense” entities, Holmes said.
“The best part is that we partner with the Indiana National Guard to provide soldiers already here on training to operate and evaluate the technologies under assessment,” Holmes said. “Soldier-centered design, their user experience, is another influential factor in the ability to accelerate prototype development, and it allows you to address those human-machine interfaces, logistics concerns and a myriad of other challenges early in the development process. And that saves you a lot of time and a lot of money.”
Still, Holmes said projects that aren’t yet “mature” enough to progress will benefit from the exercise.
“Every project and every vendor will understand their potential contribution to a joint operation when they leave,” she said.
Indiana Guard plays ‘helpful’ role
Brig. Gen. Justin Mann, with the Indiana National Guard, noted there are more than 11,000 Army soldiers and airmen in the Hoosier guard. Most are “traditional,” he said, meaning they complete service and training one weekend every month, plus two full weeks each year.
Mann emphasized, too, Indiana has the 11th largest national guard across the 54 states and territories.
Many of Indiana’s soldiers have previously been on deployments, which Mann said provides valuable “operational experience” and insight.
“They’re able to give the RDER team a look at, ‘Hey, this is how we did it in theater,” he said.
The Indiana National Guard’s 38th Infantry Division has additionally been training and preparing for deployment to Southwest Asia. Mann said they’re expected to mobilize in October.
“So much time is usually spent on why you can’t do something, or red tape. What we strive to do in the Indiana guard — and for our customers that we support across DOD and academia — is how do we get to yes? How can we accomplish that, to help you?” Mann said. “Because there’s also benefit to us, with our soldiers getting to participate in and getting those experiences — reps and sets — and the building of those relationships across these experimentations that will last well into the future.”
