Pentagon Intel Head Calls for Increased Focus on ‘Uncompromised’ Military Tech

William Stephens, director of counterintelligence at Defense Security Service, said the Pentagon and industry should ensure that warfighters receive “uncompromised” weapons and technology since U.S. adversaries have been targeting U.S. military systems. The official wants to ensure that the only people who understand or can use the technologies are its developers, the acquiring military branch and service members, the Department of Defense said Wednesday. 

“We are in a very highly contested environment, with our opponents quite successfully taking our stuff,” Stephens said at a recent forum on supply chain security and software at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He cited that some nations are “well-focused on coming after American technology.” 

Adversaries are working to steal information by exploiting relationships in the tech community, surveillance, cyber operations, insider access, outright theft and targeting supply chains. To address such threats to military technology, Stephens suggests that program managers are required to prioritize delivery of uncompromised tools that defense contractors operate at a “certain state of care” and to provide tax breaks, low-interest or no-interest loans to small businesses.