Replicator Updates from AUVSI: July 26, 2024

Welcome back to AUVSI’s biweekly newsletter to keep the uncrewed and autonomous systems industries updated on DOD’s Replicator initiative.

Government Updates We’re Tracking

Congressional Funding for Replicator

• What’s new: Earlier this month, the Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with authorizes $875 billion for the DOD.
• Of note, according to the Committee’s Executive Summary, the bill, “Authorizes increased funding for the development of new and innovative design, manufacturing, and production techniques for low-cost attritable, uncrewed systems, as well as the development of distributed artificial intelligence fusion for such systems.”
• What we’re up to: AUVSI is engaged in briefing key appropriators about the importance of funding for Replicator ahead of the markup of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Defense appropriations bill.

Defense Innovation Board Recommendations

• What’s new: The Defense Innovation Board (DIB) released a report, Optimizing Innovation Cooperation with Allies and Partners, which makes two recommendations that specifically call out Replicator in the context of international industrial cooperation:

1. NATO Innovation Fund (NIF): “So long as the United States is not a NIF participant, U.S. investors will not be able to support funded start-ups and contribute their voluminous capital and expertise to the NATO innovation community. While the U.S. start-up and investing ecosystem is already robust, this leaves money on the table and represents a lost opportunity for enhanced NATO collaboration. Faced with concerns that U.S. private capital would simply shift to competing industry in Europe, the DoD could consider a new sub-fund that focuses on specific rapid technology acquisition and adoption efforts nested with U.S. strategic priorities, e.g., low-cost surveillance and sensor-shooter networks (Replicator).”
2. Ukraine Recommendations: “The DoD should collaborate with Ukraine to support targeted rapid capability development programs (similar to Replicator). These can be a source for rapidly scaling successful defense innovation across the Ukrainian Armed Forces, adopting successful innovations within the DoD, and more holistically understanding frequent but disparate defense innovations occurring in Ukraine.”

Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) RFI

• Opportunity alert: As it prepares to issue loans and loan guarantees for critical technology and supply chain components, as authorized in the FY24 NDAA, OSC is inviting comments regarding market activity, capital requirements, and where OSC can support investment in critical technologies -- find the RFIs here and here.
• Of note for uncrewed, OSC is particularly interested in responses from industries aligned with the 31 covered technology categories identified in Section 903 of the FY24 NDAA, which includes Advanced manufacturing, Autonomous mobile robots, Cybersecurity, Data, Mesh networks, Microelectronics, and Sensors.

Hearing on DoD Platform Performance and Costs

• What’s new: The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability this week held a hearing on, “Wasteful Spending and Inefficiencies: Examining DoD Platform Performance and Costs.”
• Replicator tie-in: Hudson Institute's Bryan Clark testified that, “US defense officials know a shift to near-term capability development is necessary and have begun several efforts to jump-start efforts that implement a new Iron Triangle. The DoD’s Replicator initiative is buying and transition a large number of uncrewed vehicles to address near-term operational problems faced by US Indo-Pacific Command.”

Replicator In the News

Pentagon AI Office Building ‘Digital Enablers’ for Replicator Initiative National Defense

• The big picture: The DoD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is building out the “digital enablers” to field autonomy capabilities rapidly. The is in charge of the hardware piece of Replicator, while CDAO is working on integrating digital enablers to meet operational needs.
• The details: The AI office's Alpha-1 portfolio supports autonomy applications by providing data labeling, computing power, and evaluation resources to accelerate progress.

US, Taiwan, China race to improve military drone technology VOA

• Replicator news: Last August, the Pentagon launched a $1 billion Replicator Initiative to create air, sea and land drones in the "multiple thousands," according to the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) . The Pentagon aims to build that force of drones by August 2025.
• Yes, but: China is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial drones, and this supremacy aids its military in the push for drone development. The scale of production and low price of DJI drones could put China in an advantageous position in a potential drone war, analysts say.
• What’s next: With assistance from its American partners, Taiwan has been pushing to develop its own domestic drone warfare capabilities. The U.S. has pledged that it will sell $360 million of attack drones to the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office .

Opinion | Tech and talent are the keys to defense modernization Defense Scoop

• What they’re saying: “The Defense Department is signaling its demand for a new era of innovation. There is a wealth of private-sector talent and capital eager to meet that demand,” writes Defense Innovation Board Chair Mike Bloomberg .
• Replicator tie-in: The Pentagon is committed to buying the available commercial technology from the small firms or startups that make it, when it’s the right fit. Replicator aims to deploy thousands of drones in 18 to 24 months instead of the typical five years. That’s a promising development, but a one-off project, no matter how successful, will not be enough to reform acquisitions department-wide.

Opinion | Lawmakers must remember the mission when they consider military appropriations The Hill

• What’s new: The FY bill supports the budget requests for ongoing efforts such as OSC and Replicator while again adding money to DIU’s budget, with direction to “apply strategic focus, and promote best practices in leveraging commercial technology.”
• What they’re saying: “It is strength, power and lethality, which means procurement of capable quantities of ships, planes, ground systems, munitions and satellites and the modernized facilities and parts supply necessary to operate and sustain them,” write Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John G. Ferrari and Elaine McCusker .

Demand Signal to Industry

Andreessen Horowitz Backs Military Drone Boat Startup At $1 Billion Valuation Forbes

• The current landscape: Autonomous military systems like those Saronic Technologies is building have generated buzz among Silicon Valley investors and the Pentagon alike. In April, DOD announced it had secured $500 million for the first tranche of its Replicator program. DOD said it had received more than 100 applications from companies in the maritime domain, and expected to start awarding contracts for prototypes this summer.
• Replicator’s impact: Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas declined to discuss whether Saronic is targeting a potential Replicator contract, but said the program is “a perfect example of just what we've been talking about.”

AUVSI's Defense Advocacy Committee advances policies and funding for uncrewed and autonomous systems in the Department of Defense, ensuring the U.S. remains at the forefront of autonomous defense technologies. Learn more or contact Michael Smitsky, Esq. .