The new “Advanced Battle Manager” for the widely used Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) command-and-control system was field-tested at Yuma Proving Grounds this summer, the company says.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Crew safety for units under armor: Accurate sensors are the key
Ground platform situational awareness is critical as vehicle crew survivability depends upon it.
Some systems shot the drones, others brought hit them with electronic attacks.
By Andrew Eversden
“This is a journey to see what’s possible, what can we do with today’s technologies, for a relatively minor cost,” Gen. John Murray told us. “Project Convergence ’20 cost us about the same thing as one Combat Training Center rotation” — $23 million.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
In April, the Yuma, Ariz. test range will host a competition of “low collateral damage” countermeasures designed to stop mini-drones without firing a shot. But can such a restrained approach stop the drone swarms Russia and others are developing?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Next fall, the Army aims to test a new artificial intelligence for artillery and fire the prototype PrSM missile to its full 300-plus-mile range — once they find a venue that’s big enough.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army’s future-warfare exercise overcame a host of technical glitches to link systems ranging from NRO and NGA spy satellites to Marine Corps fighter jets.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“I have never in my life seen the cooperation between the agencies…the services…[and] across the Army” that’s happening in this fall’s wargames, Army space expert Willie Nelson told me.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Inside the shift: Trump, defense, and the road to 2025
Big changes are coming to defense in 2025, but the specifics remain uncertain. Catch our highlights and predictions from 2024 in Breaking Defense’s year-end reflections.
How do you get targeting data from satellite to howitzer in less than 20 seconds, on a tactical network that was never designed to do that? You improvise, Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher told me.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Instead of a single centralized Skynet trying to mastermind (or micromanage) operations, the Army is looking at a federation of more specialized, less ambitious AIs, each assisting humans in different ways.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
This fall’s first Project Convergence exercise aims to feed targeting data from satellites to artillery so fast that gunners can unleash precision fire in much less than a minute. And that’s just the start.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
BAE will deliver the first 18 ERCA vehicles by 2023 – but the Army is already working on further upgrades.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army’s embattled missile defense network, IBCS, passed a major field test at Yuma Proving Ground in October, contractor Northrop Grumman announced today. In stark contrast to chronic software crashes early on, the command-and-control system accurately tracked everything from drones to helicopters to fighter jets, both Army aircraft and Marine ones. (It’s hit ballistic and…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Next Century For Marine Aviation: The F-35B Comes To Yuma
YUMA: The first F-35 Bravos are arriving at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma later this month. By early next year, the full complement of 16 F-35 Bs will have arrived to replace Yuma’s four existing squadrons consisting of 56 AV-8B Harriers. This is the beginning of the next 100 years of naval aviation for…
By Robbin Laird