Items on display at the first ever DoD Lab Day on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
Items on display at the first ever DoD Lab Day on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
Old helmets are on display to show how technology changed throughout the years at the first DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
Pizza MRE's - set to be available in 2017 - are on display at the first DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A chocolatey Calcium/Vitamin D Bar on display for people to taste at the first ever DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. The First Strike Bar is a lightweight and calorically dense, making it a critical component in combat rations. It is fortified with 1000mg of Calcium and 50mcg of Vitamin D. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A Long Endurance Solar Small Unmanned Aircraft on display at the first DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. It has demonstrated more than a 60-75 percent increase in flight endurance and it has the potential for ultra-long endurance solar/fuel cell battery power system. It was developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A heart monitor on Lt. Caroline Kurtz's finger workes wirelessly with a device on Lt. Tony Easton's wrist. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A man is reflected in a satellite on display at the first ever DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes) (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Joint U.S. Service Laboratories' Capabilities in Quantum Sciences and Engineering - a collaborative Air Force, Army and Navy research team - pose with their check from the DoD. The check for 45,000,000 will help scientists research scalable quantum network technologies. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System is on display at the first DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System is on display at the first DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A close up of a Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System during the Pentagon's DoD Lab Day on May 14 ,2014. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes) ()
A futuristic helmet is on display at the first ever Department of Defense Lab Day on May 14, 2015. (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes) (Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes)
A CAMEL - concept for advanced military explosion-mitigating land demonstrater - is on display at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
A CAMEL - concept for advanced military explosion-mitigating land demonstrater - is on display at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Gen. Joseph Dunford (second from left), commandant of the Marine Corps, sits in a CAMEL - concept for advanced military explosion-mitigating land demonstrater - at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. The CAMEL is described as “a nontraditional Army Ground Vehicle Survivability Demonstrator, designed and optimized with the latest advancement in armor and protection for the safety and survivability of the occupants.” (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
A 3D printer etches out an Air Force logo at DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. The Air Force Research Laboratory is looking at printing wearable technology and adding printed materials to existing hardware. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Dan Berrigan (left), a scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory, explains how 3D printing can produce parts to add onto existing hardware at DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. The lab is also is looking at printing wearable technology. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
John Cox, an engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, shows off a new jet engine that offers more boost and yet is more fuel efficient at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
John Cox, an engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, shows off a new jet engine that offers more boost and yet is more fuel efficient at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Software that takes over to prevent a jet from crashing is on display at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Robotic machine guns from the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab are on display at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Melak Alemu from Thomas Edison High School in Alexandria, Va., controls a wall-climbing robot at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Robotic machine guns from the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab are on display at DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
Navy veteran Bill Reason demonstrates an exoskeleton suit meant to help Navy sailors lift and work with heavy items at DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
A realistic mannequin capable of bleeding is on display at DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. The mannequin is meant to train deploying troops in combat surgery skills wihtout the use of animals or cadavers. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
J. Harvey Magee of the Armed Forces simulation Institute for Medicine shows off a realistic mannequin capable of bleeding at DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon on May 14, 2015. The mannequin is meant to train deploying troops in combat surgery skills without the use of animals or cadavers. (C.J. Lin/Stars and Stripes)
ARLINGTON, Va. — The military’s cutting edge of science, technology and medicine was on display Thursday at the first-ever DOD Lab Day, bringing pizza MREs, robot machine guns, various simulators and even a life-like, bleeding mannequin to the Pentagon.
A joint effort between the Army, Air Force and Navy labs focusing on developing quantum science technology for use in sensors and communications came away with a big win, earning a $45 million grant for a three-year project in the fast-developing field.
"What we see today is innovation in the foreground," said Frank Kendall, DOD undersecretary for acquisitions, technology and logistics. "There are so many different areas that the Department of Defense depends on — that our warfighters depend upon — where we need to be some of the best of the best or ahead of everyone else."
The event showcased more than 60 innovations from the research labs of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and private medical and engineering labs. The tech included laser weapons, flight software that takes over to stop jet crashes, 3-D printing of wearable electronics, biomonitors, traumatic brain injury detectors and the realistic bleeding mannequin — meant to teach trauma skills without the use of animals or cadavers.
"We must continue to innovate to protect our country," Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said. "Technological superiority is not an American birthright. We assume it ... but it is under threat ... We have to work every day to keep it."
Check out the videos and gallery for a peek.
lin.cj@stripes.com Twitter: @cjlinSS
