Government scientists fight for funding.

• Author: Parsons, Dan
• Position: Inside Science + Technology

Flashy big-ticket weapons like tanks and fighter jets get all the press when the money to buy them gets cut, but neither would exist if it weren't for years of researching what makes them such potent tools of warfare.

Government scientists want to preserve the surge of cash military laboratories have used to help troops fight the wars of the last decade in hopes that ongoing experimentation will help the military prepare for conflicts to come.

But the output of science and technology investment is difficult to q-uantify and therefore is a hard sell to bean counters, said Robie Samanta Roy, defense science and technology advisor to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Laboratory research results in everything from fundamental scientific knowledge to actual weapons.

"As a result of the wars, some of the labs were involved in building weapon systems that went directly into the war fighters' hands in 90 days or 180 days," he said. "When we had a lot of money, we could afford to [look farther down the road]. We could say this will lead to transistors or lasers."

Fortunately, the [degrees]barna administration is supportive of science and technology investment, he said. There was great emphasis put on research into weapons, armor and bomb-detection technologies, among other endeavors, during the active wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When troops encountered a new threat, there was an immediate need to find a way for them to detect and defeat it. The argument to fund research that might not bear fruit for years becomes more difficult without troops in harm's way, Roy said. Basic research is the foundation on which applied sciences build new technologies. Where development of systems can deliver results relatively quickly, basic scientific research results in revolutionary breakthroughs that are few and far between. Both are at risk, Roy said.

"We have to be very wary of just trying to get something in the near term versus still making those longterm investments," Roy said during a Dec. 19 breakfast meeting hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association in Washington, D.C. "Science and technology by nature, especially basic research, is something that is very long term in what you can see in return on investment."

All of the advantages gained from a decade of research into materials science, human systems, robotic autonomy, simulation and other disciplines are threatened by budget cuts.

Roy has already seen the defense science and technology...