This updated strategic plan focuses on cyber defense, the cloud, and enterprise solutions
By Kelsey AthertonThe Pentagon’s grand plans for Joint All Domain Command & Control require translating masses of data across incompatible systems. “Unless you get the underpinnings of a foundational data fabric,” Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher told me, “it will never happen.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Recent exercises like RIMPAC and Valiant Shield have tested some of this new data sharing. “There’s a couple of ships on the bottom of the Pacific right now from those exercises that were demonstrating some of those concepts,” said Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler.
By Paul McLeary“While we’re all focused on 5G, and we’ve got a lot of possibilities in 5G, we also know 5G is not an endpoint,” said Dan Massey, one of three 5G program leads at OUSDR&E. “So, what goes beyond 5G?”
By Theresa HitchensAI will help commanders make sound decisions so much faster, said Lt. Gen. Michael Groen, that waging war without it will work as well as cavalry charging machine guns on the Western Front.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The military sees huge potential in tiny electronics to revolutionize warfare with swarms of expendable, interconnected drones. But it doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the F-35 by building a single multi-service mega-program to build them.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Having awarded $600 million for 5G pilots at five bases in the US, the Pentagon will formally solicit for seven more in the coming months. But will 5G work in war zones?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“Being able to take out 10 targets in rapid succession…that’s very exciting. It’s awesome,” said Lt. Gen. Michael Groen. “But it’s not enough.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Like JEDI, DEOS is a multi-billion dollar cloud program held up for months by protests from losing bidders. This morning, the Pentagon reaffirmed General Dynamics as the winner, but cut the contract’s estimated value nearly in half.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Military technology often lags so far behind Silicon Valley, one defense official says, that much of the Pentagon is “in the Fred Flintstone era,” while the cutting edge is, “past the Jetsons.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Military hierarchies are, by necessity, rigid structures. DARPA’s ‘Mosaic Warfare’ project aims for something much more fluid and adaptable, with AI doing the logistical grunt work so human commanders can get creative.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“This is a fundamental roles and missions question, and DoD needs to clearly designate a lead service and compel the other services to follow that lead,” says Todd Harrison, space and budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Security.
By Theresa Hitchens