For decades innovation died in the "Valley of Death" stage of the DOD acquisition lifestyle. R&D never quite made it to operations, especially if the tech would disrupt lobby heavy "Primes." The (pretty) new org, DIU helped champion some new contract vehicles - like the CSO, which makes it "easy" for the DOD to buy and deploy Silicone Valley tech. (I only base this on my reading of the book "Unit X" about the DIU, so I recommend you read it if you want to business w/ the DOD in 2025).