Hagel: Pentagon Needs ‘Game-Changing’ Technology to Extend Military Edge

Hopes Robots, 3D Printers Might Somehow Be Involved

Despite spending several times more on its military than anyone else, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel believes the US military advantage is not nearly overwhelming enough, and warns Russia and/or China are both gaining on them.

Hagel insists that what the US really needs is some sort of new game-changing military technology that will ensure that the Pentagon “overmatches” the other nations for decades to come.

That, like most of Hagel’s policies, means a push for dramatically more funding, just in this case that the money will be thrown at “innovation” in general, long term spending plans for speculative technologies.

In the past few years, such spending had actually been cut back in favor of more direct funding for the military in general, as many of the “innovation” programs had turned into bottomless sinkholes that just ate money and produced nothing.

Hagel is keen to return to those days, with the hope that sooner or later they’ll come up with something really powerful. In his press release, he expressed hopes that this would involve either 3D printing or robots, or potentially some combination thereof.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.