Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael addresses the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program Exhibition at the Pentagon on July 8 (DoD Photo)

The Pentagon’s chief technology officer has said the department may need to make “tradeoffs” on certain capability priorities if Congress doesn’t pass a reconciliation with $350 billion in requested defense spending, to potentially include prioritizing cheaper autonomous weapons over more “exquisite” platforms. “We just won’t be able to buy as much or move as fast. There’s no alternative. Congress does appropriations. That’s what they do, we receive them and we do the best we can,” Emil Michael, under secretary of…