It’s a wrap: Space-BACN satellite laser link program shifts from DARPA to DIU
Space-BACN's optical inter-satellite links and related tech are transitioning to the Defense Innovation Unit for a future on-orbit pathfinder, according to industry execs.
The HH-60W helped rescue a pilot in Iran. Here’s why the Air Force might not buy more.
The Air Force in fiscal 2023 attempted to cap the Jolly Green II’s fleet at 75 aircraft, but lawmakers have pushed back.
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Voyager is fortifying the U.S. Defense supply chain
Answering the Pentagon’s call to bolster defense industrial base.
Army receives first autonomous-ready, optionally piloted Black Hawk
The H-60Mx Black Hawk has been in the works for over a decade and derived from DARPA's ALIAS program.
LongShot program eyes new target for early flight tests
The first flight test for the X-68A was originally set to begin in December of 2023, Breaking Defense previously reported.
No longer ‘experimental’: Navy to deploy drone boats this year, official says
A Navy official said he expects nearly half of all naval surface vessels will be unmanned by 2045.
DARPA backs Diffraqtion to demo ‘quantum camera’ for space, Earth surveillance
Only recently emerging from stealth, the MIT-UMD spinout is planning constellations of small, low-cost ISR satellites for multiple military missions.
Satellites at the center: Inside the Pentagon’s next-gen space architecture
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
DARPA seeks universal translator between different kinds of quantum computer
With rival tech giants building different kinds of “quantum bits,” from superconductors to photonics to trapped ions, DARPA program manager Justin Cohen worries no one approach will work for every purpose — so he wants to find a way to make them work together.
Small but mighty: DARPA’s new Lift competition wants drones to carry much, much more
A drone capable of carrying four times its own weight "can actualize the dreams that a lot of people have of using drones in both the military and civilian sectors," DARPA Program Manager Phillip Smith told Breaking Defense.
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Innovating for impact: An inside look at BAE Systems’ FAST Labs™ organization
Stewart Coulter talks transition and disruptive technology in defense R&D.
AI for ATO: Pentagon seeks AI to streamline cumbersome cybersecurity processes
“Like Frank's Red Hot Sauce, we should be trying to put AI on anything that you can," said David McKeown, a senior cybersecurity official.
How the Pentagon plays into Trump’s sprawling artificial intelligence ‘Action Plan’
America's AI Action Plan features 19 recommendations that involve the DoD, including the creation of a "virtual proving ground."
With demos to begin next year, DARPA’s COFFEE project brews potential leap for spectrum sharing
The program's goal is to isolate or suppress specific signals, which could allow DoD and commercial tech to safely share congested portions of the spectrum.
DARPA picks Bell Textron to build runway-independent X-Plane
Bell will now proceed in DARPA’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies program, which has eliminated Aurora Flight Sciences from the running.
DARPA’s DRACO nuclear propulsion project ROARs no more
DRACO began life in 2020 with the moniker "Reactor on a Rocket," or ROAR — a name agency scientists later decided might garner negative attention.