The Senate voted on Wednesday 54-43 to confirm that the businessman Emil Michael as a defendant of the defense for research and engineering and the director of Pentagon technology.
In this position, Michael will be the main adviser to the Secretary of Defense and the other leaders of the Department of Defense on technological development and transition, prototyping, experimentation and management of test ranges and activities. He will also be responsible for synchronizing scientific and technological efforts through DOD.
Michael comes to work in the private sector, where he was a business director, advisor and investor. He told members of the senatorial armed services committee that he had been involved with more than 50 different technological companies during his career. Perhaps the most notable, from 2013 to 2017, he was a business director in Uber.
In government, he was previously a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense when Robert Gates was the head of the Pentagon.
Michael was born in Egypt and his family moved to the United States when he was a child to escape what he described as hostility to Christians.
“Emil experienced the American dream by building several successful technological companies, including Uber,” said President elected Donald Trump in a statement in December when he announced his choice for the Pentagon chief, adding that Michael “will ensure that our soldiers have the most sophisticated weapons in the world, while saving a lot of money for our taxpayers.”
Michael praised his trade history during his confirmation audience in March and in answers to the written questions of the senators. He noted that he had previously sat on the Business Board council, which provides independent advice to Pentagon leaders on business management issues.
“I am firmly convinced what to bring the best practices of the private sector to the department is an absolute priority because, if they are adopted effectively, they will rationalize operations and will allocate resources more appropriately,” Michael told legislators.
He suggested that certain research and development programs could be found on blockage under his watch, claiming that Pentagon officials must have discipline to “stop the fails that fail” and concentrate S&T investments on “only things that are aligned on our” peace by peace “mission.
“Time must be a factor in all our decisions, because we will face an increasingly sophisticated opponent in China, which has not only lower labor costs, but is known for intellectual property, which does its research and development … Even more quickly and cheaper than we could have imagined only a decade ago,” he said.
Michael also told senators that he would work to “refound” the relationship between the Ministry of Defense and the emerging technology sector.
“The DOD must promote a more robust and competitive industrial basis of defense by providing more realistic requirements, inviting smaller and innovative companies with heavier processes, becoming more agile in the way and when we grant contracts. The private sector should also accommodate more responsible weapons for the risks of their own failure.
He suggested that venture capital could play an even more important role in supporting the industrial defense base, especially for small businesses that need additional funding to thrive on this market. For example, he told legislators that, if he was confirmed, he would look for opportunities in small businesses research programs and small business technology transfer (SBIR / STTR) for small businesses in order to take advantage of investments in CR.
The Pentagon R & E chief plays a key role in promoting new generation military capabilities and the supervision of work on the “critical technological areas” that the Pentagon has identified. These areas currently include trust and autonomy; space; integrated and cyber detection; Integrated systems network systems; Generation and renewable energy storage; Microelectronics; human-machine interfaces; Advanced materials; directed energy; IT and advanced software; hypersonia; biotechnology; quantum; and Futureg Wireless Tech.
“If this is confirmed, I look forward to reviewing the work carried out in the 14 critical technological areas and ensuring that the ministry’s resources are focused on our most critical challenges with the right amount of weight behind each area,” Michael told legislators.
He highlighted AI, autonomous systems, quantum computer science, directed energy and hypersonia as some of its main priorities, if they are confirmed.
R & E management should also play a major role in Trump’s Golden Dome’s anti -missile defense initiative.
Michael noted that Golden Dome will demand that DOD systems engineers collaborate on architecture and software, in partnership with development and acquisition communities.
After having sworn, Michael will take over for James Mazol, who exercises the functions of the under-secretary for R & E during the first months of the second Trump administration. Heidi Shyu was the last person to occupy the role in a confirmed capacity in the Senate during the Biden administration.