On February 4, four senators formally urged Lloyd Austin, the new secretary of defense, to create a special working group to foster more extensive cooperation between Israel and the U.S. in developing advanced military technology. Bradley Bowman explains the importance of creating such an institution:
While improved cooperation [with other countries in developing military technology] can and should include a number of America’s allies, the senators said working with Israel offers some unique advantages. “Israel punches well above its weight in many of the technologies vital to U.S. military modernization efforts,” the senators wrote. “Moreover, Jerusalem consistently demonstrates an agility in fielding vital military capabilities that can benefit our warfighters.”
Consider that the Pentagon did not acquire until 2019 active protection systems for U.S. tanks that had been operational in Israel since 2011. Consequently, U.S. soldiers operated for years around the world lacking the cutting-edge protection Washington could have provided against missiles and rockets. That put U.S. soldiers in unnecessary risk. Rather than belatedly trying to address such capability gaps, the U.S. and Israel should work together more systematically up front to prevent the gaps from emerging in the first place.
Other potential candidates for such research and development cooperation include, for example, artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and cybersecurity technology.
Read more on FDD: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/02/27/senators-calling-for-us-israel-working-group/