Supercharge your defense operations with NDL solutions. Dive into a partnership that expands your team's cognitive reach. Ready to amplify your project's impact?
In this episode of The Deep Dive, Sally and Guy break down a document that might not seem dramatic on its surface — a government spending memo. But as they explain, the White House FY2027 Research and Development Budget Priorities memorandum is far more than a budget guide. It is a strategic roadmap for American science, technology, and national defense.
Drawing from Memorandum M-25-34 and National Defense Lab’s follow-up analysis, they unpack how this R&D plan is unapologetically mission-driven, designed to ensure U.S. dominance in critical technologies while acknowledging that American leadership is no longer guaranteed. The conversation explores both the technical details and the political stakes, from AI interpretability to hypersonic weapons, from quantum-secure communications to the “Golden Dome” missile defense concept.
Key Topics:
Overview of Memorandum M-25-34 and its historical framing of R&D as national defense
The five R&D priorities: critical/emerging tech, energy, security, biotech, space dominance
AI interpretability, steerability, and embodied AI for dual-use applications
Quantum information science and the urgency of post-quantum cryptography
Domestic semiconductor resilience and advanced communications (5G/6G, proliferated space networks)
Energy dominance: advanced nuclear, fusion, and critical minerals for secure supply chains
National security capabilities: hypersonics, missile defense, cyber resilience, and the “Golden Dome” concept
Health and biotech: chronic disease, food security, biosecurity, and domestic biomanufacturing
Space dominance: human exploration, tactically responsive space, trusted space autonomy
Cross-cutting actions: Gold Standard Science, STEM workforce, research infrastructure, ecosystem revitalization, and high-value R&D
The role of commercial partners like SkyFi, Maxar, and SpaceX in extending federal capabilities
Episode 93 — 25:32 minutes
National Defense, Emerging Technologies, and the FY2027 R&D Priorities (White Paper)
Supercharge your defense operations with NDL solutions. Dive into a partnership that expands your team's cognitive reach. Ready to amplify your project's impact?