In a massive simulated conflict, the human players adapted rapidly to futuristic technologies and tactics. But their command-and-control software couldn’t keep up.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.B-21, hypersonics and more: How digital development is driving industry innovation
Technological advancements are key to keeping pace with customer demands and evolving threat landscapes.
After decades using the same clunky simulators, the Army is about to buy new sims drawing on the latest innovations in online gaming.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
It’s one thing to wargame the impact of faster jets, bigger bombs, or tougher tanks. But how do you simulate something that’s smarter than you are?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Until cyber operators can both train realistically and see the their digital battlespace as clearly as traditional commanders see physical battlespace, they’ll be hard-pressed to defend everyone else’s systems.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
PENTAGON: Of all the technologies and tactics that the defense secretary’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force has looked at, I asked one battle-hardened noncom here this morning, what’s the one thing you personally think has the most potential to save lives? His answer wasn’t a bigger gun or a new drone. Instead, Sgt. Major Jason…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
There is real uncertainty whether such things as robotic tanks and high-speed scout helicopters are possible on the Army’s timeline. But if there’s one area where a high-speed approach can work, it’s training simulations, where the Army can piggyback on the rapid development in commercial gaming.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“We had the dominant electronic warfare capability in the world and we let it atrophy. Now we’re behind,” general turned congressman Don Bacon told me. “I want us to be dominant again. I don’t want us to be second or third best after Russia and China.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Enterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
“All too often when we bring things up inside the Beltway, it immediately devolves to material and programs and technology,” said Scales. “What we hope comes out of this is not just new machines but new ways of thinking about warfare at the tactical level.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The first phase of the Synthetic Training Environment initiative replaces existing simulators for vehicles. The second phase aims to create — in just two years — something the Army’s never had before: an “immersive” virtual training environment for troops on foot.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“To get a quantum increase in the quality of close combat forces, we can do it in the next two years, (and) the cost compared to the rest of the DoD budget is very small,” said retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, who chairs the advisory board for Secretary Mattis’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
SAN DIEGO: The Navy’s overworked IT teams need new “virtual training tools” and more time to train, especially for all-out cyber/electronic warfare against a high-end adversary, the commander of Naval Information Forces said here Tuesday. As the new National Defense Strategy refocuses the entire military from counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan to great-power warfare against…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
UPDATED: McCain Endorses Army Move AUSA: Army leaders are creating eight interdisciplinary teams to jumpstart modernization programs in six key areas, from (non-nuclear) ballistic missiles to body armor. Each team will be led by a battle-hardened brigadier general and consist of specialists drawn from across the Army. These Cross Functional Teams are linked to a…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: With Russian jammers blasting Ukrainian radios off the air, the US Defense Department’s racing to regain its edge in electronic warfare. But there’s been no comprehensive strategy to guide all the armed services’ efforts — until now. The first Defense Department-wide electronic warfare strategy is “basically finished” and headed to Secretary Ashton Carter’s desk…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
AUSA: As a rule of thumb, the aerodynamics of rotor blades limit helicopters to top cruising speeds well under 200 mph, but Sikorsky and Boeing are building an aircraft they promise will thumb its nose at that rule. It’s a compound helicopter – two coaxial rotors and a pusher propeller – that they promise will…
By Richard Whittle
