ONR chief: Inefficiency in tech development a concern.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin
• Position: Global Defensse

* As the Pentagon looks for new ways to maintain its technological advantage over adversaries, potential duplication of efforts worries the chief of naval research.

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"What keeps me up at night? Inefficiency," said Rear Adm. Mat Winter in July.

Maintaining close partnerships with other military organizations is key to preventing this overlap, he said recently during remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The Office of Naval Research--which has an annual budget of about $2.1 billion--is working closely with the Defense Department's strategic capabilities office led by William Roper, he noted.

"We look at where our intersections lie in understanding the opportunities for his mission success and our mission success. His focus is department-wide, not just naval or Marine Corps applications," Winter said.

ONR also intends to partner with the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental. The office--with hubs in Silicon Valley and a newly opened facility in Boston--is meant to facilitate communication between the Defense Department and non-traditional technology companies.

During a recent meeting with Raj Shah, the director of DIUx, Winter told him "we want to be a provider, a performer for DIUx. But we also want to be selfish and ask... [DIUx] to be a performer for us."

The organization has fostered relationships with companies that typically do not work with the...