U.S. Army adopts "venture capital mindset" with new Fuze program
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
The U.S. Army on Monday launched its "Fuze" program, motivated by Secretary Dan Driscoll's desire to instill venture-capitalist thinking into the service's trying-and-buying practices.
Why it matters: The Defense Department has long been chided for its poor behavior as a customer: product tunnel vision, slow uptake and failed launches.
- Driscoll, sworn in some six months ago, told Axios he has become "frustrated by the calcified bureaucracy that slows our acquisition system."
- Fuze, he said, "will finally unite the Army innovation ecosystem to speed acquisition."
How it works: The program concentrates hundreds of millions of dollars a year — through existing outlets like xTech competitions, small-business contracting and the Manufacturing Technology effort — to shepherd ideas from the garage to the front line.
- It's meant to work alongside the existing program executive office structure, not replace it. (PEO shakeups are expected separate from this, though.)
What they're saying: "We designed this program to really adopt a venture capital mindset in terms of how we are identifying tech, how we are doing initial stage prototyping and then bringing promising technologies to scale," Matt Willis, the Fuze director, said in an interview.
- "The traditional government cycles of taking 12-18 months to even get a company on contract is not very helpful. Tech will change many times over within that timeframe," he said.
- "We're aiming, once we identify a company or a capability, to be able to bring them in and get it in the hands of soldiers within 30-45 days."
Zoom in: Army labs and the 75th Innovation Command will vet what's on offer.
- Historically, "We looked inside the Army. 'What problem do you have? OK, let's go find something to solve that problem,'" Chris Manning, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology, said in an interview.
- "We're now shifting that, to go look outside. 'What technology are we not aware of or is leading an industry that we should be pulling into the Army?'"
What's next: Fuze pitches will be heard live in mid-October, at the annual Association of the U.S. Army convention in Washington.
- This first contest will focus on electronic warfare, drones and their countermeasures, and energy.
- Those topics were raised by the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. They also are in concert with the Army's Transforming in Contact initiative.
Go deeper: Army weapons shake-up backed by Hegseth and other Trump picks
