Technology roadmap calls for no-nonsense research.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Navy

* NAVY RESEARCHERS INSIST THAT THEY no longer live in ivory towers.

Far from being disconnected from the practical concerns of deployed forces, Navy scientists are making it their business to be attuned to the demands of sailors and Marines, says Rear Adm. William E. Landay III, who heads the Office of Naval Research.

Landay oversees an annual budget of about $1.5 billion--plus a few hundred million dollars in congressional add-ons.

About 40 percent goes into "discovery and invention" projects, which involve basic research. Approximately 10 percent is for "innovative naval prototypes" described by Landay as "high payoff, high risk programs." More than 30 percent of the budget is allocated to "future naval capabilities," which are specific equipment gaps identified by the Navy and Marine Corps for the next 10 to 15 years. The remaining funds are assigned to various projects that vary from year to year, many of which are part of the Defense Department's small business innovative research program, or SBIR.

"Funding should remain steady for the next few years," Landay says. But he does not discount future cutbacks. "There are lots of demands on the money" at the Defense Department today. "There is an understanding that budgets will flatten out or decrease over time."

To ensure that successful technologies make it to the fleet, money alone is not enough. Research projects also need to get more in synch with procurement programs, so technologies can be "inserted" into weapons systems.

Acquisition programs have to deliver a product on a timeline. Science projects may or may not be tied to a schedule. That is a problem, Landay says. "We develop our S&T on a schedule that is independent from our acquisition. One of my priorities is to better align and better understand where the opportunities are for technology insertion. We need to think about the timeline or we miss the opportunities when the budgets are planned for programs of record."

In projects involving critical technologies that tactical forces have requested, he says, "transition agreements" are signed between the Office of Naval Research and the acquisition managers.

In 2005, out of 30 "future naval capabilities" projects, 22 became successful acquisition programs, he adds. "In the next few years, we expect those things showing up in the fleet."

Under the category of "innovative naval prototypes," the Navy is developing an electromagnetic rail gun that could one day be deployed on warships...