Data storage a key challenge for USSOCOM, acquisition chief says
NewsMay 06, 2025
TAMPA, Florida. Data storage will be a critical focus area for U.S. Special Operations Command going forward, said Melissa Johnson, USSOCOM's acquisition chief, during her keynote address at SOF Week 2025.
While advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence receive most of the attention, the ability to store and process data effectively remains a fundamental challenge for special operations forces, she said.
"We cannot do any of this going forward if we don't have three things: power, storage, and compute," Johnson said. "It's not the most glamorous thing to talk about. Everybody wants to talk about the capabilities on the screen and all the really cool stuff."
As USSOCOM increasingly relies on AI and networked systems to maintain operational advantages, the underlying data infrastructure becomes more critical, particularly in austere environments where special operators typically work, she added.
"If we don't have a way to store all these advanced algorithms, we don't have a way to pass data quickly in this system of systems to close a kill chain, it's going to be really hard to win," she said.
She noted that as algorithms grow more complex and data requirements increase, the storage and processing infrastructure must keep pace.
"This is an area that we need investment in: power, storage, compute," she said. "It's the foundation we need."
