Caption
President Donald Trump holds up a copy of a 2025 National Trade Estimate Report as he speaks at an event at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Caption
US Army Spc. Harry Santiago IV, assigned to the Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), launches a Skydio X2D drone on Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania on July 9, 2025. (US Army photo by Spc. Breanna Bradford)
The Pentagon has struggled for decades to get new technologies out of the lab and into the hands of operators. But the Department of Defense is now using experimentation to more rapidly assess new capabilities and integrate them into the force, efforts that accelerated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the department’s launch of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) initiative. Congress wants to supercharge this Pentagon experimentation. The proposed SPEED Act aims to use the DoD’s experimentation- and integration-focused organizations and processes—rather than legacy capability-development programs—as the primary path for identifying and fielding solutions to commanders’ operational needs.
Please join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Bryan Clark, US defense officials, and industry leaders for an event co-organized with the National Defense Industrial Association's Emerging Technologies Institute, highlighting the DoD’s recent accomplishments in translating concept to capability through experimentation in support of the nation’s most urgent military challenges.
Agenda
1:00 p.m. | Panel 1: Current Experimentation
- Joy Shanaberger, Chief Technology Officer, CENTCOM
- Dan Ermer, Director for Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
- Capt. Raymond G. Stromberger, Joint Fires Division Chief, US Indo-Pacific Command
- Gary Western, Director of Engineering, Motorola Solutions
- David Schmolke, Vice President, Government Systems Networking Business, Viasat Inc.
- Yi Chao, Founder and CEO, Seatrec
Moderator
- Dan Lamothe, Journalist, Washington Post
2:30 p.m. | Panel 2: Future Role of Experimentation
- Rick Berger, Policy/Budget Director, Senate Armed Services Committee
- Gina Pizziconi, Professional Staff Member, House Appropriations Committee
- Alex Lovett, Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
- Dan Edwards, Chief Technology Officer, Platform Aerospace
Moderator
- Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Related Events
27
January 2026
In-Person Event | Washington Convention Center
Apex Defense Conference 2026
Featured Speakers:
Bryan Clark
Nadia Schadlow
Timothy A. Walton
27
January 2026
In-Person Event | Washington Convention Center
Apex Defense Conference 2026
Apex Defense, in collaboration with Hudson Institute, will host a dynamic defense technology event that unites warfighters, acquisition professionals, startups, small and medium businesses, investors and industry leaders to tackle operational challenges from the seabed to space.
Featured Speakers:
Bryan Clark
Nadia Schadlow
Timothy A. Walton
29
January 2026
In-Person Event | Invite Only
Pax Silica: Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg on the AI Race and Economic Security
Featured Speakers:
Jacob Helberg
Joel Scanlon
29
January 2026
In-Person Event | Invite Only
Pax Silica: Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg on the AI Race and Economic Security
Please join Under Secretary Helberg and Hudson Executive Vice President Joel Scanlon for a discussion on the Pax Silicia initiative, America’s strategy to win the global AI race, and the new geopolitical imperatives of economic security and technology.
Featured Speakers:
Jacob Helberg
Joel Scanlon
04
February 2026
In-Person Event | Invite Only
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the Future of Trade Policy
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador Jamieson Greer
Peter Rough
04
February 2026
In-Person Event | Invite Only
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the Future of Trade Policy
Please join Ambassador Greer for a fireside chat with Senior Fellow Peter Rough on the Trump administration’s first year back in office and what’s next for US trade policy.
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador Jamieson Greer
Peter Rough
10
February 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi on Rebooting America’s Defense Industrial Base
Featured Speakers:
Michael Cadenazzi
Nadia Schadlow
10
February 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi on Rebooting America’s Defense Industrial Base
Join Hudson for a conversation with Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi, who leads the DoW’s efforts to develop and maintain the US defense industrial base to secure critical national security supply chains.
Featured Speakers:
Michael Cadenazzi
Nadia Schadlow
Related Research
Caption
(School of War)
Caption
China Insider Logo
Caption
Minister of Defence of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov attends the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on January 14, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)