Amy Henninger, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) directorate, outlined a tech-centric vision for the future of defense testing during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee today.
Her plan centers on modernizing the OT&E enterprise to make it “better, faster, and more cost-effective” by integrating digital tools, automation, and rigorous yet agile methodologies.
“[OT&E] must be both independent and rigorous, driven by warfighting relevance, but also agile and forward-leaning, enabled by the tools and methods of the 21st century,” Henninger said. “We must modernize and streamline how we test, how we model, and how we integrate [OT&E] across the acquisition lifecycle.”
She warned that the speed of technological change is outpacing traditional testing frameworks, which could compromise national security if not addressed.
Henninger called for a strategic shift in the OT&E framework – emphasizing digital test environments, automated tools, and a culture of continuous innovation. She also underscored that modernization is essential to ensure testing remains relevant and credible in an increasingly tech-driven battlefield.
If confirmed, Henninger said she would focus on establishing an organizational structure that supports constant adaptation and integration of new methods – aiming to ensure that test and evaluation processes can evolve in step with technological advancements.
“Technological innovation stands to reshape the character of conflict and technological mastery is becoming as decisive as traditional force,” Henninger said.
Henninger also highlighted the need to shift from a hardware-centric model to one focused on software and data-driven systems. This evolution, she said, would require new risk models and faster delivery of capabilities to keep pace with emerging threats.
“In this era, strength [and] dominance will no longer be measured exclusively by the size of a fleet or the range of a missile, but also by the coherence of our response, by the confidence we place in our systems, and by the speed with which we can turn emerging technologies into operational readiness,” she said.