Special Problems of Military Research and Development

Abstract

Many of the problems of military research and development are not special, either because they are common to other comparable research and development programs or because they are common to other parts of the military pro grams. The military programs are concerned with research, but the main emphasis is on development and on the entire chain of activities necessary to improve the capabilities of the operational forces. The magnitude and complexity of the pro grams are tremendous; these factors, particularly the complex nature and interrelations of their objectives, are at the root of most of the problems of military research and development. The basic organizational problem is to find a way to centralize responsibility for the crucial decisions involving selections among alternative military capabilities and technical ap proaches, while at the same time decentralizing detailed man agement to allow a maximum of freedom and flexibility in the actual conduct of research and development work. The prob lems of military research and development culminate in the budget process. Making the proper allocation to military re search and development within the over-all limitations and dis tributing this amount to individual research and development projects are the most difficult problems of our time.