Given the two-year break from sequestration, the Pentagon is hurrying up to hire civilians to push the modernization of the force to head off advances by China and Russia, a new DoD strategy document says.
By Paul McLearyWeapons development redefined: How U.S. industry and government must collaborate
L3Harris is working to ensure our warfighters stay ahead of the rapidly evolving threat environment.
The Pentagon is moving out quickly amid worries that China has outpaced U.S. capabilities in hypersonic weapons development.
By Paul McLeary
WASHINGTON: No lives were on the line. It wasn’t lofting a billion dollar spy satellite. But the SpaceX Falcon Heavy test launch demonstrated today that the world’s largest rocket system worked largely as planned. And, as one observer noted, the entire system was built for commercial reasons alone; no government agency crafted a requirement saying…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: When former Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work heard the head of Google’s parent company, Eric Schmidt, say this morning that America needs a national strategy for developing Artificial Intelligence, one image sprang to his mind’s eye. “The image that popped into my mind was of Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe in the UN and…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: When a computer system defeated one of the greatest masters of the complex game known as Go last year, the world gasped. Experts had said months before that such an event would not occur in their lifetimes. Last night, the magazine Nature published an article by DeepMind, the Google company behind that breakthrough, claiming…
By Colin Clark
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomy are central to the future of American war. In particular, the Pentagon wants to develop software that can absorb more information from more sources than a human can, analyze it and either advise the human how to respond or — in high-speed situations like cyber warfare and missile defense — act on…
By Chris Telley
Thinking about robots and war often brings to mind HAL, the apparently well-meaning but ultimately destructive computer in 2001, or the metallic creatures of death in the Terminator series. Today, however, the Pentagon wants to push the concept in a different direction. With advanced adversaries like Russia and China copying the smart weapons, stealth fighters, and…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: Should the United States build physical and cyber Terminators, weapons that do not have a human in the loop? The unequivocal answer from the prestigious Defense Science Board is yes. “This study concluded that DoD must accelerate its exploitation of autonomy—both to realize the potential military value and to remain ahead of adversaries who also…
By Colin Clark
In an intriguing paper certain to catch the eye of senior Pentagon officials, a company claims that an artificial intelligence program it designed allowed drones to repeatedly and convincingly “defeat” a human pilot in simulations in a test done with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). A highly experienced former Air Force battle manager, Gene Lee, tried repeatedly…
By Colin Clark
