Hands-On Experiment: User experimentation accelerates technology adoption
To overcome those challenges, the Portfolio Management Executive for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (PME CBRND) is bringing together scientists and engineers who are developing systems to interact with and observe warfighters in relevant operational scenarios using actual equipment—a process commonly known as experimentation— to identify areas of improvement and develop equipment that suits warfighters’ needs. This partnership has been successful in speeding up the acquisition process and ensuring technology adoption.
"To accelerate timelines, we have to get technology in front of the warfighter as early as possible," said Jerrett Davis, deputy joint product lead for the Joint Project Manager for CBRN Special Operations Forces (JPM CBRN SOF). "Through experimentation, we can host demonstrations where our user groups evaluate and down-select from a range of S&T, government, and commercial equipment. This process provides a validated starting point that ensures the capability we build is not only adopted but is also delivered at the speed of relevance."
Both experimentation and demonstrations are critical to ensuring that warfighters have a voice in the acquisition process. Experimentation increases knowledge in a specific domain, while demonstrations present and confirm what is already known. Experimentation identifies specific areas of uncertainty, custom designs and conducts experiments to address that uncertainty, whereas with demonstrations, the uncertainty has already been resolved.
“Experimentation and demonstrations are an important part of the process within the special operations community because they can be flexible and move faster given the urgency of the mission. Now we’re trying to expand experimentation efforts and spread the knowledge of how to incorporate it into non-SOCOM [Special Operations Command] programs,” said Osa Penny, director of strategic stakeholder engagements for PME CBRND.
Traditional acquisition is a regimented, sequential process that flows from requirements to science & technology to testing, acquisition and ultimately fielding. Although the user receives the final product in the end, they are not always intertwined in the process. Sometimes this results in a capability that is no longer relevant; or it may be difficult to use, unwieldy to hold; or a host of other issues that could have been adjusted if the user was able to provide early and consistent input. Experimentation maintains the traditional sequence but puts feedback and warfighter touchpoints at the center of the process, allowing for direct feedback and suggestions.
Experimentation exercises are designed using relevant warfighter operational concepts. During these exercises, PME CBRND engineers and their technology developers observe warfighters using the systems in various scenarios, actively capturing data and feedback for consideration into system refinements.
Recognizing the utility of experimentation in the development process, PME CBRND and its partners at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) created a space to conduct experimentation outside of formal exercises called the Foundry.
The Foundry is an established collection of functions and services designed to build, integrate, and assess potential capability sets for rapid delivery. It provides an opportunity for technical and operational evaluation to assess technical viability, interoperability, operational relevance and implementation factors. The current CBRN defense enterprise Foundry is located at DEVCOM CBC at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
“If we can secure service member buy-in ahead of Milestone B [the decision point where Service leadership decides if a product is mature enough to move forward into development], we can ensure resources are not wasted on developing a capability that will never be used during operations,” said Joshua Liles, assistant program manager, JPM CBRN SOF.
Liles leads several experimentation efforts with USSOCOM. He said that many of the methods SOCOM uses to speed up acquisition can be applied to non-SOCOM programs, but doing so requires thinking outside of the box and a willingness to pursue the ‘art of the possible.’
“There are many mechanisms available to support flexible agile acquisition, and some program managers are just not aware of them,” said Liles. “Many were trained to think of things in one way, but today in 2026, we have options. If PMs can think more along the lines of ‘what if we could?’ and then seek ways to accomplish it rather than trying to fit their program into a predetermined model, we can expand the possibilities and see unconventional solutions.” Some of those mechanisms include Title 10, Section 4023, Other Transactional Agreements, and rapid prototyping opportunities, all of which could pave the way for incorporating experimentation into the process earlier.
In 2026, a team working on handheld detectors successfully used Title 10, Section 4023 (a dedicated legal authority that allows the military to rapidly purchase or acquire emerging technologies and prototypes for testing and experimentation), bypassing the standard, lengthy federal procurement process to accelerate innovation to purchase commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) detector systems to use for warfighter experimentation during the 2026 Dragon Shield Exercise.
The team first investigated if there were any relevant commercially available systems submitted by vendors through the Joint Enterprise Technology Tool, the CBRN defense enterprise’s industry connector. When a few looked promising and fit within the requirements, the purchase was made under Title 10, Section 4023. They then created scenarios where warfighters tested the systems in would-be operational environments. Based on the feedback provided at that event, the team down selected two viable systems that will be further adapted and modified when the program officially starts in FY27. Starting the program with systems they know users will like and use allows system developers to focus on refinement using warfighter data points to help clear Milestone decisions faster.
In FY27, PME CBRND and its Joint Project Managers intend to have increased presence at experimentation events to include programs that support military communities beyond special operations forces. With a cross functional team that meets frequently to discuss logistics, strategy, and constantly keeps an eye on COTS technologies that are available for experimentation events, PME CBRND plans to get technology in the hands of warfighters as early as possible to learn, iterate and field.
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