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Army Rapid Capabilities Office

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

What is it?

The Army Rapid Capabilities Office is the Army’s signature initiative to expedite critical technologies to the field to counter urgent and emerging threats.

As a key piece of Army acquisition reform efforts, the new office will conduct rapid materiel development and delivery to address immediate, near-term and mid-term combatant commanders’ needs. Beyond closing current capability gaps, the organization also aims to stimulate aggressive, proactive capability development and leverage disruptive technologies to meet Army strategic objectives.

What has the Army done?

The Army established the Rapid Capabilities Office in August 2016 at the direction of the Secretary of the Army. The office reports to a board of directors led by the Secretary of the Army. The Rapid Capabilities Office is a total Army effort that leverages capabilities and expertise from across the service, especially the Army staff, program executive offices, training and doctrine community, intelligence community and science and technology community.

What continued efforts are planned for the future?

The Rapid Capabilities Office will focus on capabilities that enable Soldiers to decisively operate and win in contested environments, beginning with the focus areas of cyber, electronic warfare, survivability and positioning, navigation and timing, as well as other priority projects. Although flexible in its capability, the office will primarily focus on high-priority, threat-based projects with an intent to deliver an operational effect within one to five years.

Why is this important to the Army?

The Army recognizes that threats are evolving faster than our challenging acquisition processes, complex bureaucracies and large organizations can support. The Rapid Capabilities Office will enable the Army to experiment, evolve and deliver technologies in real time to address both urgent and emerging threats while supporting acquisition reform efforts.

In support of the Army Operating Concept and other strategic initiatives, the new office has a critical role to play in ensuring the Army is ready today and prepared for tomorrow. It will be a direct pipeline that commanders can access quickly to meet real-time demands, while building an advantage for those who will follow in their footsteps.

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