Author Archive
Patrick Tucker
Science & Technology Editor
Patrick Tucker is science and technology editor for Defense One. He’s also the author of The Naked Future: What Happens in a World That Anticipates Your Every Move? (Current, 2014). Previously, Tucker was deputy editor for The Futurist for nine years. Tucker has written about emerging technology in Slate, The Sun, MIT Technology Review, Wilson Quarterly, The American Legion Magazine, BBC News Magazine, Utne Reader, and elsewhere.
Science & Tech
Startup debuts agentic AI assistant for war
As the Pentagon eyes agentic AI, a veteran-founded company introduces a tool that puts the military first.
- Patrick Tucker
Exclusive
Business
Former Trump advisor joins board of Ukraine-focused drone tech company Powerus
For Ukraine, co-production and commercial ties offer a “path forward” amid stalled diplomacy.
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
Iran is adopting Russian drone tactics, Ukrainian troops say
“Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia—that's all one war,” visiting military delegation tells D.C. audience.
- Patrick Tucker
Science & Tech
The real danger of military AI isn’t killer robots; it’s worse human judgement
As Pentagon rushes to deploy LLM-based tools, research suggests they can undermine human thought and communication.
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
US intelligence elevates AI as a top global threat in new report
Annual assessment of Office of the Director of National Intelligence notes AI's use in combat, economic competitiveness—but skips disinformation.
- Patrick Tucker
Defense Systems
US Navy to use wall-climbing robots to inspect ships
Gecko Robotics scores $71m contract.
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
Why the ‘narrow,’ ‘short-term’ sanctions reversal for Russia is neither
Sanctions relief for Russia will be difficult to undo.
- Patrick Tucker
Defense Systems
AI-enabled watch towers set to proliferate along the border
GDIT pitches autonomous station with better sensors, more computing power.
- Patrick Tucker
Science & Tech
New science on heat is changing the future of soldiering
Suffering in the sun doesn’t make better troops.
- Patrick Tucker
Science & Tech
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.
- Patrick Tucker
Business
Pentagon’s war on Anthropic based on ‘dubious’ legal thinking and ideology—not real risk, sources say
The company will "likely file suit against everybody,” one legal expert said.
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
Shahed drone meets clone in US war on Iran
The Feb. 28 strikes saw the first combat use of the LUCAS, a near-copy of Iran’s cheap and effective Shahed-136.
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
It would take the Pentagon months to replace Anthropic’s AI tools: sources
AI maker digs in with Thursday statement rejecting DOD pleas for unfettered use.
- Patrick Tucker
Special Report
Business
Several trends are shifting defense tech toward Europe
War, regulation, and distrust of the United States are tilting a big market homeward.
- Patrick Tucker
Policy
Pentagon’s spending plan doubles down on land, air, sea robots
A look at new tech efforts in the Pentagon’s $151 billion reconciliation allocation plan.
- Patrick Tucker
Ideas
Defense One Radio, Ep. 203: Fictional intelligence
The authors of a new series discuss how they're exploring the future of conflict through short stories.
- Ben Watson and Patrick Tucker
Science & Tech
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.
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
Russia still sees US as its top adversary, Estonian intelligence report says
Moscow’s gestures toward normalized relations are no more than an “illusory thaw.”
- Patrick Tucker
Threats
NATO innovation chief: Alliance must speed up, or risk Russian invasion
Ukraine shows that “the obsolescence is nearly immediate,” for even the best weapons.
- Patrick Tucker