China threat still drives Pentagon R&E despite counternarcotics focus: Emil Michael

The US military is striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and massing forces off the coast of Venezuela, but the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer is still focused on China.

While the new National Security Strategy released on Thursday prioritizes the Americas, Undersecretary for Research and Engineering Emil Michael told reporters that technology development needed to be driven by higher-tech threats overseas.

“The focus on Western Hemisphere … it’s [about] the homeland and the threats from narco-terrorists that come from our hemisphere,” Michael said. “We have enough capability currently to do anything that’s necessary in that arena. … So I am focused much more on other parts of the world, R&E is focused on more other parts of the world than this hemisphere, because the adversary capabilities are not nearly as close.”

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