A new political reality is settling in over Washington. For the foreseeable future, budgets at all levels of government are going to be under increased scrutiny. At the Department of Defense, Secretary Robert Gates has made it clear that there is no room for superfluous or unnecessary programs, inefficient processes and significant overhead in the department's budget. Funds that were recently appropriated for exquisite defense technologies should now be redirected to modernize and repair our military equipment that has been stretched to the limit over the past decade during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Across the aerospace and defense industry, this new reality is beginning to sink in. Those companies that will be successful in helping the Pentagon meet its short-and long-term challenges are the ones that are rethinking how they do business. Proposing and designing expensive new systems may no longer be a realistic approach. Instead, providing advancement and affordable new directions for proven technologies will be the key to success.
At ITT Defense & Information Solutions, we are shifting our attention to this type of approach. We are not only working internally to improve our own efficiencies, but are focusing on "spiral developments" that are significantly less expensive to pursue, and can be developed and delivered to the warfighter more rapidly and effectively. By integrating proven and available technologies and open architectures to meet existing capability gaps and requirements, we can meet Sec. Gates' clarion call and deliver more affordable solutions to the battlefield.
But innovation and affordability should not end with new product development. Sustainment engineering and service life extension ensures that warfighters get the longest life and optimal value out of a wide variety of systems from information networks and range instrumentation to vehicles and facilities.
As an example, ITT Defense's technologies for land, air, sea, and space provide greater situational awareness and capability in more affordable ways. These networked technologies more efficiently collect, process and disseminate voice, data and imagery in real-time across secure networks to commanders, analysts, and to the warfighter on the battlefield. We are displaying these capabilities this week at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, DC.
At ITT Defense we will continue to partner with our customers and competitors to find efficiencies while giving the warfighter the advanced technologies they need to stay on the tactical edge--and meet the challenge of today's new reality.