Critical Technology Events (CTEs) that Support the Rationale for Army Laboratories Based on S&T Functions Performed

Project Hindsight1 was a 1969 U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) report that was an in-depth study sponsored by the Director of Defense Research & Engineering (DDR&E) and provided insights into the development of approximately 20 weapons systems across the Defense spectrum. Hindsight was used as a model for a series of papers, including this one, in the analysis of research projects in the DOD. Since the publication of Hindsight, DOD has continued to pursue research and development (R&D) and develop weapon systems to address new military threats to the United States. The Army Science & Technology (S&T) Executive sponsored a series of three reports that provided a retrospective look at the development of four major Army weapons platforms since Hindsight: the Abrams tank,2 the Apache helicopter,3 and the Stinger and Javelin4 missiles. These three Defense & Technology Papers were focused on the Critical Technology Events (CTEs) that occurred in U.S. Army, industry, and academic laboratories that enabled these weapons platforms to have the necessary capability to accomplish their assigned missions. CTEs are ideas, concepts, models, and analyses, including key technical and managerial decisions, which have had a major impact on the development of specific weapons systems. A report that synopsizes these three platform oriented systems has been published also.5 Additionally, another CTE-related paper has been published which diverges from the weapons platform orientation of the previous papers and focusses on Army sensor technology development.6 CTEs can occur at any point in the system s life cycle, from basic research, to advanced development, to testing and evaluation, to product improvements. CTEs can even relate to concepts that were developed but ultimately not incorporated into the weapons system. Also, CTEs can originate anywhere, from in-house laboratories, to private industry, to academia.