CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — An Obama-era effort enlisting startup companies to develop solutions for the military's toughest technology challenges is bankrolling experimental drones, new cybersecurity technology and advanced communications systems.
But two years on, the Department of Defense's "Defense Innovation Unit Experimental" continues to face questions from skeptical lawmakers.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican, says the jury is still out on whether the office known by the acronym DIUx is the best way to address the military's technology needs.
Col. Michael McGinley heads DIUx's Cambridge, Massachusetts, office. He says the $100 million in government contracts it has awarded to 45 pilot projects is proof DIUx is working.
Defense Secretary James Mattis makes his first official visit to DIUx Thursday. He is stopping by its outpost in Mountain View, California.