The U.S. Senate on Feb. 16 confirmed the nomination of David Honey to serve as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) deputy undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (R&E), by a vote of 94 to 1.
Honey brings deep research and development experience to the new post. He currently serves as a special assistant at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where he guides collaborative efforts between the defense research organization and other agencies.
In his new role at DoD, Honey will support Heidi Shyu – recently confirmed by the Senate as defense R&E undersecretary, in managing DoD’s investments for warfighting technologies.
During his confirmation hearing, Honey stated that bringing the best innovations and technologies to service members and the civilian workforce is paramount to protecting the American way of life.
“It is critical that we leverage the research being done by experts in academia, industry, and DoD laboratories,” Honey said. “Our future success will require a new wave of diverse STEM talent, robust investments in advanced technologies and manufacturing, and enabling a culture that allows us to take risks in search of reward.”
“It is critical that we continue to modernize in areas such as microelectronics, 5G, directed energy, and hypersonics,” he continued. “We must also take real steps to partner with and support the acquisition community to transition our most promising technologies into programs of record.”
