This month, the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force is testing a new “common platform” for AI development.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The upcoming upgrade to the Army’s tactical network, Capability Set ’23, will exploit the boom in commercial Low- and Medium-Earth Orbit satellites to boost communications for fast-moving Stryker units.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“We demonstrated… that having that person in the loop is not a huge time sink,” AITF director Doug Matty told me. “By presenting the right information at the appropriate level of confidence, it actually accelerated the mission.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.In Afghanistan and Iraq, a military lawyer was always at the table for strike decisions, said the chief of Army Futures Command. In future wars, there may not be time to go around the table.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“There’s capabilities out on the bench, on the floor, sitting out back in the parking lot,” said Army senior executive Michael Monteleone, who founded the Joint Systems Integration Laboratory.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.“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.“There are a lot of differences between the FCS experience and the path we’re on,” the Army Futures Command chief told us. This time, he said, “I don’t think there is hubris. I think there’s actually humility.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The task is mammoth and entails integrating “millions of lines of code,” according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Jeffery Valenzia. But “with innovation comes opportunity,” Army Brig. Gen. Robert Collins observed. “Speed is what will really give us that overmatch against adversaries,” said Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher.
By Brad D. Williams“The technical goal of MixComm’s work with DARPA under this effort is to try and simultaneously push the bandwidth, efficiency, and linearity of millimeter wave (mmWave) power amplifiers,” said DARPA’s Tim Hancock. “This has direct applicability to 5G.”
By Theresa HitchensThe cyberespionage campaign is said to be affecting the U.S. defense industrial base, think tanks, and “hundreds of thousands” of organizations globally. Microsoft is implicating China.
By Brad D. Williams“What does the F-35 give us? Is there a way to cut our losses?” asked Rep. Adam Smith, who wants a mixed force of different types of fighters: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Patriot missiles are expensive. Rafael and its US partner Raytheon say they can fire the cheaper Israeli SkyCeptor from existing Patriot launchers. Will that tempt the US Army?
By Arie EgoziIn an unusual bottom-up initiative, the 18th Airborne Corps is developing its own AI targeting system – and the corps’ fire support coordinator says he wouldn’t go to war without it.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.