R&D to reach $45 billion by '09

The Defense Department's push to transform the military by providing them with interoperable, digital systems will continue to offer business opportunities to firms focused on the agency's research, development, test and evaluation market, according to a new analysis.

The defense research and development market is expected to grow from $38.4 billion in 2002 to $45 billion by 2009, according to Frost & Sullivan, an international consulting firm in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Defense Department increased the research and development budget by $5 billion for 2004, the largest increase since 1962, to transform the armed services into "capability focused units" rather than organizing them strictly by service type or weapons platform, Frost & Sullivan said.