WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of War is committing $200 million to automated research laboratories in fiscal 2028 as part of a broader overhaul of federal defense research that will change how military laboratories are evaluated, expand commercial access to government patents, and strengthen collaboration with universities and private industry.
The funding will support Programmable Cloud Laboratories through a new agreement with the National Science Foundation, establishing a framework for joint research, infrastructure development and technology commercialization.
The department also identified AI Forge, a $40 million initiative, among the initial areas of cooperation with NSF. Other priorities include X-Labs and efforts to connect government researchers with academic institutions and industry partners.
The measures implement recommendations from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Science: A New Golden Age report and the department’s Defense Research Enterprise Review.
Under Secretary for Research and Engineering Emil Michael said the changes are intended to accelerate the development of military technologies while strengthening protections for federally funded research.
“We are answering that call by dismantling barriers to commercialization, modernizing our labs, and ruthlessly securing taxpayer-funded research from foreign exploitation,” Michael said.
A central component of the restructuring will introduce new performance standards for military research laboratories, federally funded research and development centers, and university-affiliated research centers.
The department plans to replace reliance on activity counts and spending rates as indicators of research performance with additional measures assessing whether research programs produce results relevant to defense missions.
The framework will establish institution-specific measures of performance and effectiveness, incorporating independent verification and longer-term assessments of scientific progress.
The Defense Research Enterprise Review found that existing financial and activity metrics provide useful oversight information but do not adequately measure research outcomes.
A limited pilot involving representative research organizations will precede broader implementation.
The department is also establishing the Center for Defense Academic Research to connect university researchers with military laboratories, nonprofit organizations, industry, and venture capital participants.
The center will operate two initiatives: the Problem-Based Basic Research Consortium, which will organize university researchers around defense-related scientific challenges, and the Translational Research Initiative for Academia and Defense, which will pair academic teams with military laboratories.
The latter program will focus on research supporting combatant commands and joint interagency task forces.
Separately, the department is introducing a Defense Patent Holiday Initiative that will provide temporary royalty-free licensing opportunities for federally developed patents.
The program is intended to reduce licensing barriers for companies seeking to commercialize defense-funded technologies, potentially expanding private-sector participation in military technology development.
The department is also tightening research security requirements, including reviews of foreign affiliations, ownership interests, and relationships with entities identified under federal defense legislation.
Those measures are intended to protect federally funded research from unauthorized foreign access while maintaining collaboration with approved research partners.
The research overhaul includes expanded efforts to recruit and retain scientists and engineers.
The Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship for Service Program enrolled more than 750 scholars this year, its largest cohort since the program began in 2006.
SMART provides tuition assistance, stipends, and internships to students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees. Participants subsequently work as civilian employees of the department for a period corresponding to their scholarship support.
The program has awarded more than 6,500 scholarships since its establishment, with a reported completion rate of 91%.
The department is also exploring a talent exchange with the Department of Energy that would connect SMART and National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship participants with the Energy Department’s Genesis Mission Fellowship.
The proposed arrangement would allow participating researchers to pursue internships across federal laboratories and industry partners.
The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship program has awarded nearly 4,900 fellowships since 1989. It provides doctoral students with tuition support and stipends for up to three years without requiring subsequent government service.
According to the department, approximately 90% of graduates enter research and development positions.
Another component, the SMART SEED Innovation Award, provides early-career researchers entering defense employment with up to $155,000 annually for three years to pursue projects aligned with military research priorities.
The department selected 19 principal investigators for fiscal 2026 awards, including researchers at Army, Navy and Air Force laboratories in Maryland, Virginia, New York, Florida and other states.
Since fiscal 2020, SMART SEED has invested $41 million across 140 projects.
The department is also expanding its emphasis on domestic defense manufacturing through the Manufacturing Technology Program, which supports the transition of research prototypes into military production.
That effort includes nine active defense-led Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, including the recently added FutureTEX institute in Belmont, North Carolina.
Together, the initiatives represent a shift toward measuring defense research by its operational applications, expanding private-sector use of government-developed technology and directing research partnerships toward military production and procurement needs.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.