Science & Tech
AI-enabled watch towers set to proliferate along the border
GDIT pitches autonomous station with better sensors, more computing power.
New science on heat is changing the future of soldiering
Suffering in the sun doesn’t make better troops.
Meet the startups trying to build military-specific AI
The Anthropic-Pentagon feud revealed a giant gap between what giant frontier models do and what troops actually need.
25th ID helping the Army smooth out the wrinkles in its next-generation C2
Organizing data, automatic spectrum-switching and more from soldiers’ wish lists.
Special Report
Several trends are shifting defense tech toward Europe
War, regulation, and distrust of the United States are tilting a big market homeward.
Air Force test pilots used tactical AI to evade a missile
A Skunk Works project pushed pilots to give artificial intelligence control in the cockpit.
An MQ-20 drone just teamed up with an F-22 for mock combat missions
The drone was able to “exchange messages” with the pilot about patrols, maneuvers, and more.
New Army office aims to quickly develop and scale soldier ideas
Pathway for Innovation and Technology will connect rapid-acquisition hubs to program chiefs.
Move over, Best Ranger; the Army’s looking for the best drone pilots
The Huntsville competition is also meant to shape the selection and training of unmanned systems operators.
The Pentagon says it’s getting its AI providers on ‘the same baseline’
Military is still abiding by ethics principles, according to DOD research head.
Initial Sentinel ICBM expected by early 2030, Air Force says
Officials say a new Pentagon-controlled manager role helped accelerate the Sentinel timeline.
The Army is writing the book on using small drones in a tank formation
The goal is to make every soldier a drone operator.
Pentagon leaders should have more control over services’ tech budgets, GAO suggests
Unsurprisingly, “The Departments of Army, Air Force, and Navy disagreed.”
New Pentagon science-and-innovation board arrives as administration cuts research funding
Even as department leaders work to fast-track new tech, the administration is slashing funding that supports and secures innovation.
US military used new 'non-kinetic' cell to guide cyber ops during Maduro capture
The unit is part of a broader push to better integrate cyber, EW, and other non-destructive effects into missions, leaders told lawmakers on Wednesday.
As combat evolves, leaders seek not ‘super-athletes’ but ‘human weapon systems’
The military wants to measure and build the ability to perform missions, not just do pushups.
DOE seeks batteries with four times the juice
Six teams will get money to build manufacturable prototypes in two years.
Featured eBooks
China is building ‘full-stack’ defense-innovation cities
While the U.S. struggles to add rare-earth factories and drone-test ranges, Beijing is creating them in clusters.
The Pentagon leans into drone swarms with a $100M challenge
An Ender’s Game challenge illustrates the U.S. military's evolving approach to AI.
Grok is in, ethics are out in Pentagon’s new AI-acceleration strategy
Seven projects are to lead the charge to embed artificial intelligence ever more deeply in military affairs.
