Reforms to Navy’s research office must come without sacrificing scientific freedom
The Office of Naval Research is going through a necessary evolution to ensure the Navy is prepared for decades to come, writes Lorin Selby.
Navy lab experiment on ISS could improve long-range radio communications
The Experiment for Characterizing the Lower Ionosphere & Prediction of Sporadic-E (ECLIPSE) sensors are slated to launch to the ISS in March via the DoD Space Test Program, Andrew Nicholas, one of the effort's lead researchers, told Breaking Defense in an email.
presented by
Keeping sensitive information safe in a new AI era
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
In electric-powered laser test, Navy shoots down cruise missile analog
The Navy is preparing to outfit a destroyer with a separate directed energy weapon this year.
Navy SCOUTing for new tech to catch drug traffickers
The Navy is briefing industry today on proposals for a new technology demonstration planned for next summer dubbed SCOUT.
Service Leaders Push For Earlier S&T Cooperation In Indo-Pacific
"We often talk about 'interoperability', okay, the ability to operate with another nation, or even among the services," says Rear Adm. Loren Selby, Office of Naval Research chief. "But there's a distinct difference between interoperability and interchangeability," which involves developing "specs and standards together" to meet mutual requirements.
‘A Golden Age For Collaboration’ On Lasers & Microwaves: But Watch The Cheetos!
“I spent the first 15 years of my career walking around in a lab with a laser, saying ‘does anyone want this…’ and the warfighter [kept] going ‘that’s adorable,’” Craig Robin recalled ruefully. “Just recently there’s been a tremendous pull [because] we simply just got out it into the user’s hands and they recognized the value.”
presented by
GPS: Still the gold standard in global navigation
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
US Warship Fries Drone With Powerful New Laser
In a first, the USS Portland took down a target drone with a new solid state laser this week, the first step in the Navy’s quest to get the powerful weapon on more ships in the future.
COVID-19: Help Fleets Of Innovators Make 3-D Printed Face Masks
Next month we’ll celebrate the 80th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, better known as “the Miracle of Dunkirk.” In the course of three days, hundreds of British civilian boats crossed the Channel to save their Army from starvation and the advancing Germans. Why? The Royal Navy did not have enough ships to transport the troops nor the […]
Talk To Us First, THEN Congress: Navy Acquisition Officials
“From an industry perspective, calling us, engaging us, talking to us, and synchronizing that alignment can be most helpful. It can also be, frankly, harmful if the appropriators or the authorizers get some stray voltage that doesn’t match up to the story."
Marines Want Armored Recon Prototypes By 2023: F-35 On Wheels Or FCS Redux?
It's important to explore a wide range of options and not lock down requirements too early, Lt. Gen. Walsh said. (By contrast, FCS set precise objectives and only then looked to see if they were possible). "We're trying to solve the problem of what is reconnaissance (and) counter-reconnaissance in the future," he said, not simply replace an old vehicle with a new one.
presented by
Data overload threatens decisionmakers as autonomy expands
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
Say It With Lasers: $45M DoD Prize For Optical Coms
PENTAGON: Live by the radio, die by the radio — unless, maybe, you switch to lasers, which are much harder to detect and interfere with. That’s why the Defense Department recently awarded a three-year, $45 million grant to a tri-service project for a laser communications system. “This is basically fiber optic communications without the fiber,” […]
Navy Railgun Ramps Up in Test Shots
PENTAGON: Consider 35 pounds of metal moving at Mach 5.8. Ten shots per minute. 1,000 shots before the barrel wears out under the enormous pressures. That’s the devastating firepower the Navy railgun program aims to deliver in the next two years, and they’re well on their way. “We continue to make great technical progress,” said […]
Best Of 2016: Rise Of The Robots
How does war change when your weapons can think? Do you trust a computer to decide when and whom to kill? Questions once asked only in science fiction are now becoming matters for policymakers. All four armed services are experimenting with artificial intelligence in every domain: land, sea, air, outer space, cyberspace, and the all-pervasive […]
Swarm 2: The Navy’s Robotic Hive Mind
Robot boats are getting smarter fast. Two years ago, on the James River, the Office of Naval Research dropped jaws with a “swarm” of 13 unmanned craft that could detect threats and react to them without human intervention. This fall, on the Chesapeake Bay, ONR tested ro-boats with dramatically upgraded software. The Navy called this […]