Ten Wartime Technologies at America’s 250th

For America’s 250th anniversary, Cogs of War ran ten essays on innovations forged in wartime that subsequently diffused throughout the civilian economy, or had a lasting impact on society, governance, and Americans’ relationship with technology.

为纪念美国成立 250 周年，Cogs of War 发表了 10 篇关于战时创新的文章，这些创新随后扩散到整个民用经济，或对社会、治理以及美国人与技术的关系产生了持久影响。

We received submissions on a wide range of technologies, ranging from a copying lathe built for musket stocks after the War of 1812 to the stealth bomber .

我们收到了各种技术的提交材料，从 1812 年战争后为步枪枪托制造的仿形车床到隐形轰炸机。

Over the last few weeks, subscribers to our free newsletter voted, and we’re pleased to announce the winners of our contest below.

在过去的几周里，我们的免费新闻通讯的订阅者进行了投票，我们很高兴在下面宣布我们的竞赛获胜者。

One idea surfaced in most of the essays: Historically, the government’s role in innovation was as much a buyer and standard-setter as it was an inventor.

大多数文章中都出现了一个想法：从历史上看，政府在创新中的角色既是发明者又是买家和标准制定者。

For example, in 1936, the Army decided that all Air Corps engines would be designed for 100-octane fuel , which gave refiners the ability to scale necessary infrastructure before wartime.

例如，1936 年，陆军决定所有空军发动机都将设计为 100 辛烷值燃料，这使炼油厂能够在战前扩展必要的基础设施。

Air Force contracts enabled Texas Instruments to keep producing integrated circuits before commercial applications drove down costs.

空军合同使德州仪器能够在商业应用降低成本之前继续生产集成电路。

And today, the government owns the PALS webbing standard , so any vendor can make gear for it.

如今，政府拥有 PALS 织带标准，因此任何供应商都可以为其制造设备。

In these stories, the commercial payoff came later, often unexpectedly and sometimes after decades.

在这些故事中，商业回报来得较晚，通常出乎意料，有时甚至是几十年后。

These stories suggest lessons for the current acquisition debate, in which subjects like speed and commercial solutions feature heavily.

这些故事为当前的收购争论提供了教训，其中速度和商业解决方案等主题占据重要地位。

Those are important subjects.

这些都是重要的主题。

These essays suggest, though, that the government’s leverage has historically come from committing early to things the market did not yet value.

不过，这些文章表明，从历史上看，政府的影响力来自于尽早承诺市场尚未重视的事情。

Two of these articles show what can happen when that government commitment erodes: Sarah Kreps shows how leading-edge chip fabrication concentrated in Taiwan, and Julie George details how DuPont eventually sold its Kevlar business to a private-equity-owned company.

其中两篇文章展示了当政府承诺受到侵蚀时会发生什么：莎拉·克雷普斯 (Sarah Kreps) 展示了尖端芯片制造如何集中在台湾，朱莉·乔治 (Julie George) 详细介绍了杜邦公司最终如何将其 Kevlar 业务出售给一家私募股权公司。

Congratulations to all ten authors, and thanks to everyone who voted.

祝贺所有十位作者，并感谢所有投票的人。

These are the top five winners:

以下是前五名获奖者：

2.

2.

Aubry Eaton, “ Blanchard’s Lathe and the Long Arc of American Manufacturing ”

奥布里·伊顿，“布兰查德车床和美国制造业的长弧”

3.

3.

Julie George, “ The Strategic Fiber of America: Kevlar’s Impact on Warfighters ”

朱莉·乔治，“美国的战略纤维：凯夫拉纤维对战士的影响”

5.

5.

Sarah Kreps, “ The Integrated Circuit and the Future of American AI Leadership ”

Sarah Kreps，“集成电路和美国人工智能领导力的未来”

War on the Rocks memberships also go to Mike Benitez for “ The Davis Wing, the B-24 Liberator, and the Self-Made Bet That Paid Off ,” T.

迈克·贝尼特斯 (Mike Benitez) 因“戴维斯翼、B-24 解放者和白手起家的赌注而获得回报”而获得了岩石战争会员资格。

Nelson Collier for “ What America Learned About Democracy When It Gained Stealth ,” Caitlan Fealing for “ The King of Cool: Mobile Refrigeration and the Remaking of Global Logistics ,” Jim Perkins for “ MOLLE, PALS, and the Empty Loops of America’s Civil-Military Divide ,” and Aidan Poling for “ The Octane Revolution: How Jimmy Doolittle Catalyzed a Wartime Industry .”

纳尔逊·科利尔 (Nelson Collier) 的《美国在民主隐形时学到了什么》、凯特兰·费林 (Caitlan Fealing) 的《酷之王：移动制冷和全球物流的重塑》、吉姆·帕金斯 (Jim Perkins) 的《MOLLE、PALS 和美国军民鸿沟的空循环》、艾丹·波林 (Aidan Poling) 的《辛烷值革命：吉米·杜立特如何催化战时工业》 ”。