At least one related request for information was published last year. It garnered more than a dozen responses, ranging from enthusiasm to rejection, officials said at the time.<\/p>\n
The input was helpful to the Army, and that sort of dialogue with defense suppliers will continue, Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo told reporters March 7, 2024, on the sidelines of\u00a0the McAleese defense conference<\/a>\u00a0in Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were going to send an RFI out, we were going to enter into a very formal and elaborate conversation with industry about the economics of that buying model and get feedback,\u201d Camarillo said. \u201cI think we\u2019ll continue to partner with industry on multiple RFIs, multiple discussions in different fora.\u201d<\/p>\n Exploratory pilots could help iron out kinks, Camarillo said. Radio\u00a0as a service<\/a>\u00a0could resemble a subscription offered by some makers of consumer products; it could also mirror other deals in which companies furnish goods and expertise on a rolling basis, keep them up to date and handle quality control.<\/p>\n Updated connectivity has for years been a priority for the Army, alongside demands for improved long-range precision fires, air and missile defense and aviation. Secure, reliable networking is a tenet of the Pentagon\u2019s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept, which envisions insights seamlessly relayed across land, air, sea, space and cyber.<\/p>\n Army Chief of Staff\u00a0Gen. Randy George<\/a>\u00a0at the same conference Thursday said the service must recognize the demands of today without losing sight of the potential leaps ahead of tomorrow.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to get our soldiers the right technology, when it is relevant, with the ability to upgrade and adapt to the threat. If we don\u2019t, then we are putting our men and women in the dirt unprepared to fight and win,\u201d George said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about product innovation, it\u2019s about process innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n The chief of staff previously said soldiers \u201cneed to shoot, move and communicate,\u201d and that \u201ctechnology should\u00a0facilitate those fundamentals<\/a>, not encumber them.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ZXQDYI5ZR5FHRBMRXCHAUX2X7Y.jpg\")