July 10-11, 2024 | The Sunset Room, National Harbor, MD

The 2024 Urban Operations Summit will focus on the tools, techniques, and training required to navigate the future urban battlefield. Speakers will discuss the development of technology and tactics needed to navigate expansive subterranean and urban terrain. Presentations will highlight the current ground conflicts ongoing both in Israel and Ukraine, recent changes to military doctrine, modern training strategies, and the development of innovative technologies aimed at supporting Warfighters in urban landscapes. 

 

2020 Confirmed Speakers Included:


Dr. Russell Glenn
Director, Plans and Policy, G-2
US Army Training and Doctrine Command



COL Douglas Winton, Ph.D, USA
Chair, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations
US Army War College


Col Wendell Leimbach, Jr., USMC
Director
Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate




Col Kris Stillings, USMC (Ret)
Director, Experimentation Division
Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory
Marine Corps Combat Development Command


Dr. Robert Davis
Chief Scientist, Geospatial Research and Engineering
US Army Engineering Research and Development Center



Robert Hesse
Subterranean and Dense Urban Environment Working Group Operations Lead
CCDC Armaments Center


Download the Agenda Here

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Why You Should Attend This Summit:

The Department of Defense continues to prioritize joint force readiness. Overall spending for total readiness increased to $146 billion in FY’24, to strategically build and maintain warfighting forces and capabilities for the future operational environment. Today, over one-half of the world’s population resides in urban areas. By 2050, that percentage is expected to increase to 66%. Amid an era of strategic competition and increased urbanization, the current operational environment and future nature of conflict is changing. The Military will likely find itself conducting operations in high-population environments defined by complex, dense terrains, with both super-surface and subsurface terrains due to multi-level high rise buildings and maze-like tunnel systems found in most modern cities. The 2024 Urban Operations Summit will convene DoD, Military Services, industry partners, and academia for in-depth discussion focused on the training, tactics, and technologies essential to prepare for future urban warfare and its complex operating environment.

This year’s forum will examine how the U.S. military is preparing and training for operations within an urban setting. Discussions will highlight the ongoing ground conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, development of innovative technologies to support Warfighters in urban landscapes, prioritizing urban warfare training and readiness, redirecting tactics, training, and technologies for combat in large cities, planning for subterranean operations, and the challenges of urban warfare. The event will also have a panel emphasizing the importance of utilizing virtual training and wargaming to adequately prepare, plan, and train for operations in urban landscapes. Attendees at the Urban Operations Summit will have the unique opportunity to discuss and ask questions to key decision makers, subject experts, policy advisors, and solution providers to ensure mission success in the future urban battlefield.

DSI’s team specializes in the extensive research and development of our Summit’s content and focus areas. We will assemble the most respected minds in the urban operations community, including operational leaders, key policymakers, industry, and academia. Our non-partisan approach allows us to reach across all services and organizations to bring together a truly holistic group of decision makers and solution providers.

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Exhibit and Sponsorship Information:

The 2024 Urban Operations Summit provides opportunities for exhibit space, round table discussions, product demonstrations, luncheon, and cocktail receptions.


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Topics to be Covered at the 2024 Summit:

- Preparing to execute large-scale DoD combat operations in urban terrain

- Rapidly acquiring capabilities to enable operator success in urban operations

- Transforming the Army to ensure warfighting readiness in the future battlefield

- Leading SOCOM to meet the challenges of a new era

- Utilizing virtual training & wargaming for urban operations

- Preparing the USMC for an increasingly urban operating environment

- Preparing to fight in complex environments through readiness & partnership

- Employing next-generation technologies to provide SOF a competitive advantage in future operations

- Enhancing soldier survivability & lethality through innovative overmatch capabilities

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At Our Summit You Have the Ability To:

Gain Education & Insight: Walk away with knowledge gained from our senior level speakers on some of the complex challenges facing the DoD and Military Services as it relates to the urban warfare community.

Build Partnerships: The agenda is designed to allow for ample networking opportunities and the ability to engage in constructive dialogues among all in attendance.

Influence: Help foster ideas! Share your own insight and knowledge during our interactive sessions. All attendees are encouraged to address our speaker faculty and each other with their questions, comments or ideas. ___________________________________________________________________________________________<

Operating Guidance for Government Attendees:

DSI’s Summit directly supports DoD & Federal Government priorities by providing a conduit for officials to efficiently reach audiences outside of their respective offices that directly impact their department's mission success, at no charge to the government, and in an efficient expenditure of time.

DSI’s Summit will provide a forum to address and improve internal and external initiatives, meet with and hear from partner organizations, disseminate vital capability requirements to industry, increase visibility within the larger community, and generally support their mission.

The Summit is open and complimentary to all DoD and Federal employees and is considered an educational training forum, and a widely attended gathering. ___________________________________________________________________________________

*Summit is Closed to The Press/ No Recordings*