WarTech: How the Air Force Research Lab Delivers Innovation to Warfighters

Video Above: Air War in 2050 – Air Force Research Lab Commander

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Stealth fighter pilots who attack with precision missiles while under fire, bomber crews using advanced sensors to elude enemy air defenses, and cargo plane personnel descending into hostile areas to deliver supplies and ammo … will all be asked for specific contributions to the future of weapons development.

WarTech – Air Force Research Lab (AFRL)

The initiative is called WarTech, an Air Force Research Laboratory program designed to integrate warfighters with technologists, innovators and weapons developers to optimize preparations for future war.

“WarTech is a partnership with our number one customer which is the warfighter. It allows us to roll up our sleeves to tackle their operational challenges, things that they can’t do today. And then to work together on ideas and solutions, and then curating down to those ones that are most within our grasp,” Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, Commanding General, Air Force Research Laboratory, told Warrior in an interview.

The idea is to bridge any potential divide or disconnect between innovators thinking about technology requirements and future warfare and warfighters themselves who know what works in actual tactical war scenarios. 

When these two sensibilities are aligned, modernization is well positioned for success. Much of this pertains to unknowns to a degree, meaning the advent of new technologies naturally drives a need for new tactics and maneuver formations, however warfighters themselves are perhaps best positioned to explain what gaps need to be filled and what particular combat needs or challenges can be addressed through innovation.