Defense Primer: Emerging Technologies

"Both U.S. national strategy documents and Congress’s own bipartisan Future of Defense Task Force Report have identified a number of emerging technologiesthat could have a disruptive impact on U.S. national security in the years to come. These technologiesinclude

 artificial intelligence,
 lethal autonomous weapons,
 hypersonic weapons,
 directed-energy weapons,
 biotechnology, and
 quantum technology.

As these technologies continue to mature, they could hold significant implications for congressional oversight, U.S. defense authorizations and appropriations, military concepts of operations, and the future of war.."
Defense and technologies 

Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

"The Joint Publication (JP) 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, sets forth standard US military and associated terminology to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United States. These military and associated terms, together with their definitions, constitute approved Department of Defense (DOD) terminology for general use by all DOD components.

Purpose This publication supplements standard English-language dictionaries and standardizes military and associated terminology to improve communication and mutual understanding within DOD, with other federal agencies, and among the United States and its allies..."
Defense Dept. Dictionary

Long-Term Implications of the 2016 Future Years Defense Program

"In most years, the Department of Defense (DoD) produces a five-year plan, called the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP), associated with the budget that it submits to the Congress. The FYDP describes DoD’s plan for its normal, peacetime activities (corresponding to what is often labeled its base budget). DoD’s current plans are described in its 2016 FYDP, which covers fiscal years 2016 through 2020.

Those plans call for relatively flat budgets that average $534 billion for 2016 through 2020. (Unless otherwise noted, all costs in this report are expressed in 2016 dollars to remove the effects of inflation.) If DoD’s plans are projected for an additional 10 years, CBO’s analysis indicates that defense budgets would be larger, averaging $565 billion per year from 2021 through 2030 under DoD’s cost assumptions. Moreover, CBO estimates that the cost of DoD’s plans would be 4 percent higher over the next 15 years under a set of policies and prices that more closely matched recent experience..."
Defense programs

Using Data to Improve Defense Acquisitions: Background, Analysis, and Questions for Congress

"Many analysts believe that data analysis is a critical element in making smart, informed, policy decisions and in managing government programs. Without data, there may not be an appropriate basis for making policy decisions, measuring or assessing the effectiveness of government programs, or providing transparency into government operations. Despite the importance of data, most observers believe that the Department of Defense (DOD), and other government agencies lag behind the private sector in effectively incorporating data analyses into decisionmaking. These analysts argue that by using data more effectively to support acquisition decisionmaking, DOD could save billions of dollars, more efficiently and effectively allocate resources, and improve the effectiveness of military operations.

In FY2014, DOD obligated more than $280 billion for federal contracts, more than all other federal agencies combined. Given the size of the defense budget, Congress has pursued a variety of approaches to improving the efficiency of DOD, such as requiring the department to be auditable, including provisions on acquisition reform in National Defense Authorization Acts, and holding numerous hearings on agency operations and acquisition reform. To the extent that improved data analysis could enable more effective decisionmaking, Congress may opt to conduct oversight in this area and explore ways to enable DOD to conduct more effective data analysis..."
Defense Acquistions

Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

Current version of the U.S. Department of Defense's Dictionary of  Military and Associated Terms
https://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/jp1_02.pdf

Western Hemisphere Defense Policy Statment

"DoD will support robust inter-American defense cooperation. Whenever possible, DoD will develop innovative, low-cost and small-footprint approaches to achieve our shared security objectives, relying on training, advisory capabilities, exercises, and rotational presence. This policy statement provides the framework on which we seek to build partnerships to enhance bilateral, sub-regional, and hemispheric capacity to meet the challenges of the 21st century.."

Western Hemisphere Defense Policy Statement

Report on Progress Toward Security and Stablity in Afghanistan

"Since initial publication in June 2008, the Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan has provided the U.S. Congress semi-annual assessments on developments in Afghanistan and the state of the international coalition’s civil-military campaign. The June 2008 report presented a bleak assessment of the situation in Afghanistan: “The Taliban regrouped after its fall from power and have coalesced into a resilient insurgency.” A year later the situation had declined further; as noted in the June 2009 report: “The security situation continued to deteriorate in much of Afghanistan.” However, these trends gradually began to change as shifts in strategy were supported by critical resources, and in November 2010, the report for the first time highlighted “modest gains in security, governance, and development in operational priority areas,” noting as well their uneven and fragile character. The last three iterations reported that progress has continued to expand, with the most recent report in October 2011 highlighting “important security gains” and “reversal of violence trends in much of the country.”.."

Long-Term Implications of the 2012 Future Years Defense Program
Testimony of David E. Moser, Asst. Sec. for National Security, of the Congressional Budget Office before the Committee of the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, July 7, 2011.