ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Leaders from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory met with members of the German Federal Office of Defense for Technology and Procurement Sept. 8 to tour ARL at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
President Harald Stein of the German Federal Office of Defense for Technology and Procurement was met by RDECOM Commander Maj. Gen. Nick Justice, ARL Director John Miller and ARL's Weapons and Materials Research Director Jill Smith.
Just as the U.S. Army Materiel Command is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness - technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection and sustainment, the German office is responsible for ensuring the "Bundeswehr" or Federal Defense Force is equipped with state of the art technology and equipment.
The group discussed topics ranging from the Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program to ARL's continued relationships with universities.
According to Justice, ARL employs a wide range of scientists in varying areas of expertise and educational backgrounds. "ARL provides the foundation and underpinning for science and technology analysis to the Army," he said. "ARL has a well educated workforce across the lab.
I know I speak for John and I in commending the intellectual diversity ARL has worked hard to build. ARL has a highly educated workforce and we're proud to hire them from an extensive number of universities."
Before touring the labs of WMRD, Miller spoke about the core competencies of ARL, as well as the need to branch out into new fields of research with the intent of meeting the needs of the Army's future.
"ARL has long term enduring needs that will always be essential. It is also crucial to anticipate the needs of the future force," Miller said. "Lethality, protection, networks and sensors are important areas for us."
Stein spoke about past efforts on robot technology and said he would hope to establish more relationships in the future.
"I give many thanks for the educational and informative information," he said. "I think it will help establish more collaboration in the future."
ARL briefed Stein and the members of the German office on various areas of WMRD and toured the
Rodman Laboratory. Researchers presented information on weapon effects during military operations in urban terrain answering the visitors' questions regarding the predictability of the weapon effects, combining efforts and reducing materials. Briefers also shared information on coldspray technology, scalable warheads, specifically scalable warheads for adaptive response, and other current Army programs and technology.
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