Andy Green: Commercial tech trailed defense, but now it's "the exact reverse"
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The Pentagon's acquisition system must be "much, much faster and agile" to take advantage of the technological leaps achieved outside the traditional defense industrial base, according to Andy Green, the president of HII's mission technologies division.
- "Commercial technology used to follow defense technology; this was back when I was much younger. But now it's the exact reverse," he told Axios in an interview.
Why he matters: Green oversees some of the most sensitive tech at HII, America's largest shipbuilder. That includes unmanned systems, electronic warfare, space and nuclear services.
Q: When you hear "future of defense," what comes to mind?
A: I think, like a lot of people, of artificial intelligence. I really think about it becoming quite ubiquitous, throughout every aspect of national security and defense.
- AI is already becoming fairly prevalent in proposals and projects right now, and I think that's only going to continue. It's going to be literally everywhere in just a few years.
Q: When will wars be waged solely by robots?
A: I don't think that happens in our lifetimes. And I'm using that term loosely, because I think there's probably like 40 years between my lifetime and your lifetime.
- I truly believe that we are going to have autonomous systems throughout the military and integrally involved in every conflict going forward, but I think there's always going to be a human in the loop.
Q: What region of the world should we be watching? Why?
A: I hate to state the obvious, but China.
Q: What's your secret to a successful overnight flight?
A: I can't sleep on an airplane, as crazy as that sounds.
- For me, a successful overnight flight is: I catch up on work, I read and digest work materials that I don't have a lot of time to read while I'm in the office, and, frankly, I'll catch up on some of my favorite series, like "Yellowstone."
Q: What time do you wake up? What does the morning routine look like?
A: I typically wake up between 4 and 4:30, and my morning routine is pretty boring, but, I would say, productive.
- I get up, I have a cup of coffee, read all my newspapers and then I go exercise. Then I come back, get cleaned up, check email and start divvying up those kind of tasks, and then head out to the office or wherever I'm going that day.
Q: What's a piece of gear or tech you can't go without?
A: This was my favorite question on the list. I've got a 1950s Les Paul electric guitar.
- You can play anything — and I do — from Led Zeppelin, to AC/DC to all the hair metal up into heavy alternative like Drowning Pool or Disturbed. And then, believe it or not, I also play worship music on that guitar.
