Military Review English Edition July-August 2016 | Page 116

the rate of innovation
while simultaneously
reducing cost. Tailored
systems might provide
such a capability at a
much lower cost by
allowing specialized
design for regions or
possibly for individual
battles. Additional
utility is gained by
making maximum
use of modularity
to allow systems to
adapt. The very nature
of this type of vehicle
requires an agile systems-engineering and
manufacturing process
(Photo by Pete Souza, www.whitehouse.gov)
that anticipates many
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden view a 3-D–printed carbon-fiber Shelby Cobra car
scenarios in advance.
during a tour of Techmer Polymer Modifiers in Clinton, Tennessee, 9 January 2015.
Using persistent
synthetic gaming environments helps achieve this in a cost-effective manner
Editor’s note: Parts of this article were previously pubwhile concurrently considering both tactics and techlished article at the 2015 Mad Scientist Conference, 27–28
nology. Investment in a new process as described in this October 2015, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
article can provide a better return on taxpayer dollars
than investing in raw technology.
Biography
Dr. Robert E. Smith is a research engineer in the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and
Engineering Center’s computer-aided engineering group, Analytics. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from
Michigan Technological University. His research work includes machine-learning, data mining of behavior patterns,
systems engineering, and computational fluids. Smith has worked for Ford Motor Company, Whirlpool Corporation,
and General Dynamics Land Systems.

Notes
Epigraph. Joe Gould, “Army Seeks Faster, Better Focused Acquisition,” Defense News website, 31 March
2015, accessed 12 May 2016, http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/show-daily/ausa/2015/03/31/
army-doctrine-acquisition-ausa/70717520/.

114

1. Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer, “‘Da Gou,’ China’s Own Big
Dog Robot,” Popular Science website, 5 September 2014,
accessed 12 May 2016, http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/
eastern-arsenal/da-gou-chinas-own-big-dog-robot; News Desk,
“Chinese Combat Recce Vehicle Displayed with Copies of
U.S. Killer Micro-Drones,” Defense Update website, 13 November 2014, accessed 12 May 2016, http://defense-update.

July-August 2016  MILITARY REVIEW