Accelerating SOCOM innovation: Why integrated T&E is the missing link

As U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) emerges from two decades of near-exclusive focus on counterterrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, the community is undergoing a strategic renaissance. Reorienting to face great power competition—particularly in converging threats posed by Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and transnational terrorist networks—SOF must adapt at an unprecedented pace.

“We’ve got to get away from current processes that deliver us yesterday’s requirements today,” USSOCOM’s Commander General Brian Fenton said during SOF Week 2025. “If we’ve learned anything from our partners in Ukraine, it’s that we need to innovate now in minutes, days, and weeks, not years and decades.”

This demand for rapid, credible, field-ready capabilities is reshaping acquisition processes to satisfy SOF-peculiar needs. Melissa Johnson, SOCOM acquisition executive, recently called for “cutting the chaff” by strengthening industry partnerships and reducing the layers of paperwork, bureaucracy, and design iterations that slow progress.

During my time with the SOF community during the post 9-11 surge into Iraq and Afghanistan, we routinely performed test and evaluation (T&E) in training and combat experimentation, but these efforts were usually decentralized and informal. Since then, we’ve learned that well-resourced and integrated T&E can provide significantly greater value than the do-it-yourself T&E. The right T&E and integration partner can make that vision real, helping SOCOM rapidly validate, refine, and field breakthrough technologies without sacrificing performance or mission relevance. By staying technology agnostic and free from vendor affiliations, such a partner can offer objective insights and act as a trusted “tech scout” – identifying promising early-stage technologies and bringing them to the government’s attention. 

Achieving “speed of relevance”

Integrated T&E, in which multiple performance measures and vulnerabilities are tested in parallel, provides a proven pathway for SOCOM to dramatically accelerate solution development and delivery while maintaining essential validation rigor by integrating testing at the concept stage rather than as a post-development activity.

The key to achieving these savings lies in conducting integrated testing across multiple domains simultaneously—from cybersecurity penetration testing to tactical missile guidance systems or propellant systems to electromagnetic interference analysis. This comprehensive approach eliminates the sequential testing bottlenecks that plague conventional acquisition programs.

Astrion provides simulation, testing, and wargaming capabilities that assess military operations across domains. By evaluating prototypes in realistic operational contexts from the outset, we help compress development timelines and avoid the delays of a separate testing phase.

 Failing fast

SOCOM has an established history of validating technology performance by field testing prototypes under highly realistic training conditions to “weed out” technologies that don’t deliver as advertised.

But implementing technology validation earlier in the development process can help prove system architecture and critical performance parameters before making significant investment. By identifying issues up front, it’s possible to address potential roadblocks early, keeping promising projects on track and avoiding costly delays

Our work with electromagnetic and radio frequency (RF) systems has shown the effectiveness of this approach. In one case, Astrion’s T&E experts identified spectrum conflicts and interference risks during concept development, allowing design correction and preventing costly redesigns during integration phases.

Early testing can also reveal which technologies are not yet ready for prime time. By “failing fast,” SOCOM can direct its resources toward proven solutions and make smarter decisions about which projects to scrap or advance.

Maintaining rigor vs. speed

Threat evolution is outpacing traditional acquisition cycles. To meet accelerated timelines without compromising testing rigor, SOCOM needs adaptive T&E methodologies and a mindset grounded in mission reality. Astrion supports this need by adopting specific T&E approaches and principles, like:

• Humans are more important than hardware: Getting the operator involved early in T&E is critical to success. We have found that end users consistently ask the hardest questions in the T&E process, helping describe the unique circumstances under which technologies must operate and demanding consistent performance time and time again. 
• Event-based testing: Traditional T&E processes follow a fixed schedule, with tests tied to calendar milestones—regardless of system readiness. We replace this with event-based testing, where technical milestones, rather than dates, trigger tests. This ensures testing occurs when systems are ready, leading to more meaningful validation and avoiding unnecessary delays.
• Adaptive test planning: Keeping pace in an increasingly chaotic world requires flexibility. Our teams develop adaptable test strategies that can quickly respond to emerging requirements or changing threat conditions without requiring complete test plan overhauls.
• Parallel development and testing: Conducting concurrent production, testing, and fielding activities can accelerate development capability delivery without sacrificing essential safety and effectiveness validation. This approach has proven quite effective in cybersecurity integration. Rather than treating cybersecurity as an add-on, we conduct incremental cyber assessments on each developmental system configuration, creating a cumulative evidence base that enables more focused testing during formal evaluation phases.

Proof through T&E

In hundreds of programs, we’ve seen how early, integrated T&E shortens timelines, reduces risk, and delivers proven capability to the field faster. This has proven true across the range of kinetic and non-kinetic T&E services Astrion provides, including:

• Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Counter-UAS T&E, systems engineering, and systems integration
• Weapons systems, air-breathing propulsion, aerodynamics, space systems, and operation of ground test facilities
• Aviation, missile systems, munitions, ordnance, and propellant testing
• Maritime developmental T&E and payload integration
• Cyber T&E for enterprise IT systems, weapons systems, and a variety of digitally connected systems.

SOCOM’s culture values speed, flexibility, and empowered teams. To stay ahead in great power competition, SOCOM needs integrated, adaptive T&E—supported by trusted industry partners who can move at the pace of relevance. That’s how to cut the chaff—and give operators the decisive edge they deserve.

Author

Boyd Brown
Vice President, SOF and Intel Growth