A better bridge across the ‘valley of death’

Congress and the nation’s military leaders have perennially expressed frustration with the “ valley of death ,” the abyss where promising new technologies too often meet their demise before they can be transitioned into major defense programs.

The competitively awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs , signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and recently reauthorized by Congress, can play a greater role in bridging that gap.

As the Pentagon’s recently published Small Business Strategy makes clear, small companies are key to helping the U.S. ensure its technological superiority over China and other potential adversaries.

“Despite their significance to the defense mission, the Department of Defense has yet to utilize the full potential of small businesses,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote. The document singles out the SBIR and STTR programs as key entry points for small businesses into the broader defense-industrial base.

The DoD’s own review of the economic impacts of the SBIR program reported a 22-to-1 return on its investment and $28 billion in sales of new technology to the military. In her testimony to Congress in support of reauthorization of the program, the undersecretary for research and engineering, Heidi Shyu, said the “SBIR/STTR programs play a vital role in enabling the U.S. to maintain technological dominance and provide the innovation to allow the U.S. to remain ahead of our adversaries.”

At our company, Physical Sciences, SBIR-funded research and development has enabled us to provide advanced technology to a range of DoD programs. Key SBIR-developed technology, for instance, has allowed us to domestically produce specialized battery systems meant to improve the safety and performance of unmanned underwater vehicles.

This is one example of technology needed for national defense, but so focused it has very limited markets. These kinds of technologies take a long time to mature and face multiple barriers to entry in the cumbersome DoD acquisition processes — what Austin called “a complex web of entry points and intricate regulations.”

Earlier reauthorizations of the SBIR/STTR programs have increased technology transition success by creating pathways to provide the additional funding necessary to successful mature technologies, including the Commercialization Readiness Program and the Rapid Innovation Fund. Acquisition authorities are becoming more adept at recognizing and applying additional SBIR funds to technologies with merit. Congress in September reauthorized the programs for three years, including with some welcome reforms to ensure oversight.

Now, they can be strengthened even further by the Biden administration and Congress.

One of the most persistent questions we get from prime contractors is about our ability to scale production to become a reliable supplier of our own technology. The production of many of these items is capital-intensive, and subject to extensive and expensive qualification requirements without parallel in the commercial world.

The Pentagon has sought a variety of novel ways to encourage sufficient investment to make the leap from prototype to production and supply chain viability — most recently setting up the Office of Strategic Capital to help small businesses secure venture capital and loans. But the lack of venture interest in many of these markets limits the impact of that approach. Any small business contemplating borrowing to fund expansion, at levels approaching its entity value, would be very reluctant to do so considering the high degree of uncertainty in the budgets of its sole customer.

There are some immediate ways the Biden administration and Congress can double down on success. In Executive Order 14017 , the president directed the DoD to deploy incentives through the Defense Production Act “to support sustainably-produced strategic and critical materials, including scaling proven research and development (R&D) concepts and emerging technologies from other programs such as the Small Business Innovation Research awardees.”

Congress can provide more effective pathways to implement that policy. It can appropriate additional funding for the Defense Production Act as well as for the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program , intended in part to cultivate emerging defense sectors and invest in greater partnerships across the industrial base. As it considers these programs, Congress should directly fund and improve access to these funds for SBIR-developed technologies.

Finally, Congress needs to provide additional stability to the SBIR/STTR programs. Its recent reauthorization came down to the wire, delayed key awards, had the potential to exclude many successful performers from the program, and in the end was only for three years. Few would risk making investment decisions supporting acquisition cycles that last over a decade in that climate. It is time to permanently authorize the program.

The Department of Defense is rightly pursuing a host of investment strategies and incentives to help ensure next-generation technologies reach our troops. But while building new bridges, it should also strengthen those that exist. The alternative is squandering investments across the entire defense R&D spectrum and relinquishing technology leadership to our adversaries.

Bill Marinelli is chief executive of Physical Sciences, a U.S.-based company that develops electro-optical/infrared sensing systems and technologies for the defense, homeland security, medical and energy sectors.

国会和国家军事领导人一直对“死亡之谷”感到沮丧，这个深渊中，许多有前途的新技术在转化为重大国防项目之前就夭折了。

1982 年，罗纳德·里根总统签署法案，通过竞争性奖励机制设立了小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 和小型企业技术转移 (STTR) 计划，最近又经国会重新授权，这些计划可以在弥合这一差距方面发挥更大的作用。

正如五角大楼最近发布的《小企业战略》所明确指出的那样，小企业对于帮助美国确保其在技术上对中国和其他潜在对手保持优势至关重要。

“尽管小型企业对国防任务至关重要，但国防部尚未充分发挥其潜力，”国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀写道。该文件特别指出，小型企业创新研究计划（SBIR）和小型企业技术转移计划（STTR）是小型企业融入更广泛的国防工业基础的关键切入点。

美国国防部自身对小型企业创新研究计划（SBIR）经济影响的评估报告显示，该计划的投资回报率高达22比1，并为军方带来了280亿美元的新技术销售额。负责研究与工程的副部长海蒂·舒在向国会作证支持该计划的重新授权时表示，“小型企业创新研究/小型企业技术转移（SBIR/STTR）计划在帮助美国保持技术优势和提供创新方面发挥着至关重要的作用，使美国能够始终领先于我们的对手。”

在我们公司Physical Sciences，SBIR资助的研发项目使我们能够为国防部的多个项目提供先进技术。例如，SBIR的关键研发技术使我们能够在国内生产专用电池系统，旨在提高无人水下航行器的安全性和性能。

这是国防所需技术的一个例子，但由于其应用范围过于狭窄，市场非常有限。这类技术需要很长时间才能成熟，并且在繁琐的国防部采购流程中面临多重准入壁垒——正如奥斯汀所说，“错综复杂的准入点和繁琐的规章制度”。

此前对小型企业创新研究/小型企业技术转移（SBIR/STTR）项目的重新授权，通过创建途径为成熟技术的成功转化提供必要的额外资金，提高了技术转化的成功率，其中包括商业化准备计划和快速创新基金。采购部门也越来越善于识别和运用额外的SBIR资金来支持有价值的技术。国会于9月重新授权了这些项目，有效期三年，并进行了一些令人欣喜的改革，以确保监督。

现在，拜登政府和国会还可以进一步加强它们。

我们从主要承包商那里收到的最常见问题之一是，我们是否有能力扩大生产规模，成为我们自身技术的可靠供应商。这些产品的生产需要大量资金投入，并且需要满足商业领域前所未有的繁琐且昂贵的资质认证要求。

五角大楼一直在寻求各种创新方法，以鼓励足够的投资，从而实现从原型到量产和供应链可行性的飞跃——最近还设立了战略资本办公室，旨在帮助小型企业获得风险投资和贷款。但由于许多市场缺乏风险投资，这种方法的效果受到限制。任何考虑借贷以资助扩张的小型企业，如果借款金额接近其公司价值，都会非常犹豫，因为其唯一客户的预算存在高度不确定性。

拜登政府和国会可以立即采取一些措施，进一步巩固已取得的成果。在第14017号行政命令中，总统指示国防部通过《国防生产法》实施激励措施，“以支持可持续生产的战略和关键物资，包括扩大已验证的研发理念和来自其他项目（例如小型企业创新研究奖）的新兴技术。”

国会可以提供更有效的途径来实施这项政策。它可以为《国防生产法》以及工业基础分析与维持计划拨款，后者旨在培育新兴国防产业，并投资于更广泛的工业基础合作。在审议这些计划时，国会应直接拨款，并改善小型企业创新研究计划（SBIR）所开发技术的资金获取渠道。

最后，国会需要为小型企业创新研究/小型企业技术转移（SBIR/STTR）项目提供更多稳定性。该项目最近的重新授权来得十分仓促，导致关键项目拨款延迟，有可能将许多成功的企业排除在项目之外，而且最终只持续了三年。在这种环境下，很少有人会冒险做出投资决策，支持长达十年以上的采购周期。现在是时候永久授权该项目了。

国防部采取一系列投资战略和激励措施，以确保下一代技术能够惠及我们的部队，这是理所当然的。但在搭建新桥梁的同时，也应该加强现有的桥梁。否则，就会浪费国防研发领域的全部投资，并将技术领先地位拱手让给对手。

Bill Marinelli 是 Physical Sciences 的首席执行官，该公司是一家总部位于美国的科技公司，为国防、国土安全、医疗和能源领域开发光电/红外传感系统和技术。