The Pentagon’s central courtyard was transformed May 14 into a technology bazaar with the goal of bringing acquisition officials in Washington together with the work of thousands of scientists at dozens of nationwide government laboratories.
The gathered mass of scientific achievement – from man-portable inflatable satellite dishes to shelf-stable pizza with non-spoiling cheese ‑ was only a portion of the work done by about 38,000 scientists and engineers at 60 government laboratories located in at least 22 states. Their job is to maintain the technological edge that the United States military has enjoyed for decades, said Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work. 
“We must continue to innovate to protect our country,” Work said. “Technological superiority is not an American birthright. We assume it. We have assumed it since World War II. But it is under threat.”
He spoke at the inaugural Defense Department Lab Day, which was aimed at bringing the acquisition community together with the government’s disparate labs so they can share information and establish relationships. The ultimate goal is to get innovative technologies into troops’ hands as quickly as possible, Work said.
During the 1960s and 70s, most of the technologies used by the military including stealth, advanced sensors and precision-guided munitions, was developed by internal DoD labs, Work said. Today, the commercial sector routinely laps the government in the race to develop new technologies.
Robotics, autonomy, big-data analytics, advanced computing and additive manufacturing all have roots in the commercial sector and are being adopted for study and implementation by DoD labs, he said.
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall said the main reason for the displays was to “show the groundbreaking work going on at DoD labs.”
“What we see today is innovation in the foreground,” Kendall said. “We are trying to build a connection between requirements people and the labs, so the requirements people know what is possible.”
Work noted advanced body armor, medical equipment and improved night vision goggles as exhibits that stood out during his rounds of the demonstrations. Hundreds of such projects were on display in the Pentagon courtyard and south parking lot.
A man wearing a Lockheed Martin [LMT] -developed exoskeleton equipped with an articulated lifting arm demonstrated to a class of science students how he could lift objects with superhuman strength. With it, two men can lift a bomb onto the hard point of an F-18 Hornet, which normally would require six men.
Ultimately, Kendall said the various labs are after technologies that will yield fundamental leaps in capability. A program called the applied research for the advancement of science and technology priorities (ARAP) that funds research projects with a specific goal with $15 million annually for three years.
Last year, the grant went to a group of scientists at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) who developed, prototyped and fielded an autonomous robotic system for detecting and neutralizing improvised explosive devices.
The 2015 ARAP winners were teams from three DoD research laboratories – Navy, Army and Air Force. They will join forces to study “quantum sciences,” which Pentagon officials hope will yield revolutionary military technologies like the ability to track submarines while submerged.
“Much like autonomy, quantum sciences is an area that could lead to fundamental changes in military capabilities,” Kendall said at the inaugural DoD Lab Day, held Thursday in the Pentagon’s central courtyard.
Quantum science could crack some of the toughest strategic nuts the military services are faced with, including precision navigation and timing that does not rely on Global Positioning System (GPS), remote detection of submarines, remote mapping of tunnels and underground facilities and secure long-range wireless communications, Kendall said.