The Pentagon named six senior officials to lead its top technology priorities, assigning leadership for each of the newly restructured critical technology areas (CTAs) for the Defense Department (DOD), which was rebranded as the War Department by the Trump Administration.
In November, Emil Michaelhief technology officer (CTO) and undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, streamlined the DOD’s CTAs, reducing the list from 14 to six renamed categories focused on modern warfare. The updated CTAs are applied artificial intelligence (AAI), biomanufacturing, contested logistics technologies, quantum and battlefield information dominance, scaled directed energy, and scaled hypersonics.
In a series of posts on X by the CTO’s office, the department said the CTAs are department-wide priorities and that each area will now have an accountable senior leader.
“The six CTAs are Department-wide imperatives designed to maintain American military dominance – and now, each one will have accountable leaders leading the tangible “sprints” under each CTA. Each sprint will be designed to deliver advanced capabilities to our warfighters rapidly and at scale,” one post read.
According to the CTO’s announcement:
- Cameron Stanley, senior official for AAI, will oversee the department’s use of data, analytics, and AI across military operations. Stanley also serves as the DOD’s chief digital and AI officer. He previously served as a national security transformation lead at Amazon Web Services and led the Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team, known as Project Maven.
- Gary J. Vora, senior official for biomanufacturing, will direct efforts to scale critical materials and improve supply chain resilience. Vora previously served as the Navy’s principal scientist for biotechnology.
- Robert Mantz, senior official for contested logistics technologies, will guide the DOD’s efforts to advance and implement solutions that strengthen operational efficiency in contested logistics environments. Mantz has more than 40 years of federal service, including senior roles at the Army Research Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
- Kevin Rudd will lead quantum and battlefield information dominance. A specialist in electronic warfare, radar, radio frequency systems, and advanced sensing, Rudd has held positions at DARPA and the Office of Naval Research, where he worked on transitioning research capabilities into operational use.
- Christopher Vergien, senior official for scaled directed energy, will oversee efforts related to high-energy laser and high-power microwave systems. He will also provide strategic oversight for related departmental programs.
- James W. Weber, senior official for scaled hypersonics, will guide efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of hypersonic capabilities. Weber brings more than 33 years of experience in hypersonic system development and has overseen a portfolio of programs totaling more than $6 billion annually.