US Army Software Factory

History

2021: Launch of "software factory" to create military IT solutions

At the end of April 2021, the US Army introduced the first software development group at its "software factory," located in Austin Community College, Texas. The factory will help develop new applications for use in the army, as well as train encoder soldiers so that they can improve military operations using technology.

The office space of the "software factory" opened in mid-April and is located near the headquarters of the Army Futures Command division, to which the new factory belongs. The Army entered into a contract agreement with VMware to help establish an office, but it is assumed that in the end the factory will become self-sustaining and will not require the involvement of contractors. The first cohort of software developers began business in December 2020 remotely.

US Army launches "software factory" to create military IT solutions

We first launched an [software] factory under the leadership of the army, "said General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. - Some services of the army, navy, aviation, marine corps have small software factories, but none of them was organized under the control of the main troops, soldiers.

General Milley was referring to similar enterprises of other military services and software acquisition units, such as the Kessel Run of the US Air Force. At the opening ceremony of the new office in Austin, General Millie was joined by General John Murray, commander of Army Futures Command, and other army leaders.

The army leadership also announced its desire to transfer soldiers from the "industrial era" to the "information age," and the use of software should be a key part of this transition.^[1]

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