The US Department of Defence (DoD) has released the National Defence Science and Technology Strategy (NDSTS) to outline science and technology priorities, goals, and investments. The NDSTS will guide the future of the defence research and engineering enterprise along three main goals: focusing on the joint mission by investing in information systems and establishing processes for rigorous, threat-informed analysis; creating and fielding capabilities at speed and scale by fostering a more vibrant defence innovation ecosystem; and ensuring the foundations for research and development. The strategy emphasises the need to develop asymmetric capabilities that will help ensure national security over the long term and leverage critical emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing to achieve the objectives of the National Defence Strategy.

With the NDSTS the DoD seeks to 'make carefully crafted decisions that bolster the DoD's comparative advantages', according to Heidi Shyu, DoD Chief Technology Officer.