General Atomics’ New Compact, High-Powered Lasers
GA is building a prototype 300-kW missile defense laser for the Pentagon and a 250-kW airborne version with Boeing.
AI In The Grey Zone: Afghan Lessons For Great Power Conflict
Artificial intelligence developed to hunt terrorists can help track Russian and Chinese targets as well – especially amidst murky, chaotic conflicts in the “grey zone” between peace and open war.
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How the “Doomsday Plane” contract highlights the rise of mid-tier primes
Midsized companies can offer flexibility and agility while keeping intellectual property in the hands of the government.
NDAA: Conference Cuts New Army Tech, Pluses Up Old
The cutting-edge IVAS targeting goggles took a $230 million hit, while the latest upgrade to the venerable CH-47 Chinook – which the Army doesn’t actually want – got a $165 million boost.
Project Avenger: VR, Big Data Sharpen Navy Pilot Training
The first class of trainee pilots to use the new technology — and the more individualized instruction it allows — are making rapid progress, Navy officials say.
JLTV: New $911M Order Strengthens Oshkosh’s Hand For Recompete
With 9,500 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles already delivered, the Army was running out of room on its existing contracts, so it just ordered another 2,738 from Oshkosh. That’ll keep production going through a re-competition scheduled for 2022.
Pentagon CIO Defends JEDI To Key Senator
The Defense Department has spent over $5.3 million so far administering the stalled JEDI procurement – but that’s not counting the time of DoD lawyers engaged in over a year of legal battles.
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Streamcaster Nexus: Empowering the connected soldier at the tactical edge
On today’s battlefield, mobility isn’t optional - it’s mission-critical.
Navy, Marines Plan Big Wargames For Big Wars: Virtual Is Vital
Future multi-domain combat will be so complex and long-ranged that the military will rely heavily on simulations to train for it, because battles have become too big for real-world training ranges.
eBullet Brings Richer Realism To Army Training; No More Laser Tag
A new training network will simulate the effects of weapons — from mortars and grenades to, potentially, germ warfare — and tell troops if they’re “killed” or “wounded,” then play the whole exercise back for AI analysis. One Army engineer told us: “We’ve never been able to train this stuff, never.”
Budget Up, French Army Preps For Major Wargames With US
After decades fighting guerrillas and terrorists, France is refocusing on Russia and China with increased budgets, intensified training, stronger divisions, and new armored vehicles — much like the US. But the French approach is still very different.
JAIC To Evangelize AI Across DoD
“Artificial Intelligence… is not a black box that a contractor is going to deliver to you,” Lt. Gen. Michael Groen says. “It’s commander’s business at every level[:] What data drives your decision-making?”
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Why enterprise IT modernization matters now – and how to “delight by design”
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
Aircraft Readiness Is Bad & Getting Worse: GAO
Of 46 types of aircraft surveyed – from the new F-35 to the aging JSTARS – not one met the Pentagon’s goal of being 80 percent “mission capable.” Most of them, in fact, keep getting worse.
Let Your Robots Off The Leash – Or Lose: AI Experts
In DARPA-Army experiments, soldiers tried to micromanage their drones and ground robots, slowing their reaction times and restricting their tactics. Can AIs earn troops’ trust?
Army Will Protect Key Weapons From Post-COVID Cuts: Pasquarette
When defense budgets fell in the past, “the easy button” has been cutting modernization to protect manpower and readiness, Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette says. “It's going to be different this time." around.”
Project Rainmaker: Army Weaves ‘Data Fabric’ To Link Joint Networks
The 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.”