Technology Reinvestment Project: Recent Changes Place More Emphasis on Military Needs.

The Technology Reinvestment Project, known as the TRP, is an important part of the Department of Defenses DODs dual-use technology strategy, which seeks to maintain technologically superior U.S. military forces at an affordable cost. With declining defense budgets and rapid advances in commercial technology, DOD considers its traditional approach to technology development and procurement to be less effective and affordable now than it was in the past. DOD believes it must now take advantage of cost-conscious, market-driven, commercial production and leverage the huge investments in leading-edge technologies made by private industry. DODs dual-use strategy reflects a significant change in the departments procurement philosophy--to move away from reliance on specialized suppliers serving only the defense market and rely as much as possible on commercial suppliers. Thus, it is also an integral part of DODs acquisition reform efforts. Our work, undertaken at the request of this Subcommittee, focused on -- how the TRP differs from other DOD dual-use programs, -- the military relevance of selected TRP projects, and -- changes in the TRP to place more emphasis on military needs.