Africom Commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson appointed Bindl to serve as the command\u2019s inaugural innovation chief earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this role, I help identify and address capability gaps across [Africom] through process innovation, emerging-technology adoption, and a command-wide governance strategy that aligns headquarters, component commands, and operational partners,\u201d Bindl said.<\/p>\n
Under the second Trump administration, America broadly seeks to reduce its global footprint in favor of homeland defense and a deeper focus on threats in the Pacific. Africom has been pulling back its troop presence on the ground<\/a> in support of that vision \u2014 while also pushing its African partners to assume more responsibility for their own security.<\/p>\n Onstage at the NDIA summit, Anderson spotlighted various elements contributing to Africa\u2019s growing strategic importance to the U.S. and other countries. He also suggested that extremist groups and criminal activities are escalating<\/a>, alongside threats associated with rising competition between America, Russia, China and others for critical resources, influence, and access.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anderson described technological innovation as one of several, core security and acceleration levers<\/a> that Africom<\/a> will use to amplify its effects around the continent.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery [logistical] movement in Africa is contested at some point. It\u2019s just a challenging environment to operate in, and I think all of our partners understand that,\u201d the commander told NDIA\u2019s audience.<\/p>\n Africom\u2019s innovation pursuits have been organized across five focus areas that align with his key requirements and are informed by operational demands at both the Defense Department and combatant command levels.<\/p>\n \u201cOur innovation ecosystem aims to simultaneously solve Joint Force problems in parallel with our specific capability gaps,\u201d Bindl told DefenseScoop last week. \u201cWhat we find consistently is that combatant commands share many of the same challenges with some unique nuances or modifications per [their area of responsibility, or] AOR.\u201d<\/p>\n Enhanced battlespace awareness marks one of Africom\u2019s top five innovation priorities in the near term.\u00a0<\/p>\n Work in this area focuses on improving indications and warning in places \u201cwhere limited force posture can constrain traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,\u201d the chief innovation officer noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n He confirmed that the command is implementing non-traditional ISR approaches \u2014 like affordable ground sensors, long-endurance airborne platforms, and commercial space-based capabilities \u2014 to improve awareness of evolving conditions across the continent.<\/p>\n \u201cContested logistics and austere medicine is another major focus area,\u201d Bindl said, \u201cwhich includes assessing short- to medium-range autonomous aerial resupply capabilities that could improve the delivery of medical supplies and other critical material in remote or austere environments.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That work also involves exploring what he referred to as \u201cnovel operational energy vignettes or tactical edge production nodes\u201d to enable more robust supply chain resilience.<\/p>\n The command is additionally evaluating drone and counter-drone systems under its asymmetric attack and defeat portfolio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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