Austin: Defense Innovation Unit 'Moving at the Speed of Relevance'

Published Dec. 6, 2024
By David Vergun

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III got a tour today of the Defense Innovation Unit in Mountain View, California, where cutting-edge technology is bringing critical solutions at rapid speed to the warfighters and allied partners.

A man in business attire and a service member smiles at one another in a room. Service members and men in suits watch in the background.

DIU is "moving at the speed of relevance," Austin told the DIU workers.

"The things that you're working on are making a difference, not just to the United States military, but to the entire world," he said.

A man in business attire speaks to a group of service members in uniform and men and women in business attire inside a large room.

Allies and partners around the world want to tap into DIU's work and create similar organizations, he said, citing trips he's made to the United Kingdom, France, Australia and India, where DIU is mentioned.

DIU officials who hosted Austin's visit, said that they don't work on a set of traditional requirements that go into programs of record and often take time. Instead, they look for reasonably priced solutions to pressing problems that the services bring to them that need immediate attention.

Two men smiling in business suits walk inside a building.

Once the problems are received, DIU looks for commercial or technology companies that may have solutions. One of the good things is where DIUs are located. They are located here in Mountain View, Boston and Austin, Texas, places where many high-tech startups and workers are located.

A few of the many projects DIU is working on are: deep-fake detection of audio, video and imagery; advanced semiconductors; quantum sensors; counter-unmanned systems; battery supply chain resilience; autonomy and artificial intelligence.