(iPoster) Models of Defense Innovation: A Comparative Study of Policies and Collaboration

• In Event: Poster Session: International Security I

Abstract

Defense innovation has been reaffirmed as a strategic priority during the current moment of great power competition. Another compounding factor for a newfound interest in defense innovation is the reality that commercial technology now outpaces military development – especially in key emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing. Yet there remains a lack of systematic understanding on how allied democracies organize defense innovation support and under what circumstances they choose to collaborate when shared threats exist. This paper asks what types of defense innovation models exist in democracies, and how do these models thus impact how allied democracies collaborate with one another in areas of defense innovation? To answer these questions, I examine defense innovation policies across 14 allied democracies, including the U.S. from 2022 to 2025. Through structured focused comparison of policy documents, organizational structures, and collaboration patterns, I identify 5 distinct models of defense innovation support, each reflecting different priorities and philosophies about the state's role, industry relationships, and innovation processes. I argue that while countries may face similar threats and possess strong alliance relationships, collaboration occurs primarily when innovation models align, creating compatible bureaucratic interfaces, shared expectations, and mutual understanding. Material factors like defense industrial base capacity and threat proximity shape domestic policy choices, and thus the model for defense innovation a country develops, but do not determine collaboration patterns. These findings suggest that effective defense innovation partnerships require not just strategic alignment on threats, but operational alignment on how to innovate. This research ultimately contributes the first systematic comparative mapping of defense innovation policies, develops a typology of national approaches, and explains why close allies often fail to collaborate on innovation despite strong incentives.

The views and opinions of the author expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
IM Review Number: LLNL-ABS-2012170

Author

• Caroline Frances Wesson, U.S. Coast Guard Academy