The Air Force will try again this year for congressional approval to divest a portion of its RQ-4 Global Hawk fleet, service leaders told lawmakers today.
Unmanned Systems
May 7, 2021
April 27, 2021
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said the Navy is not moving fast enough to develop the capabilities it needs to compete with America's adversaries, though he cautioned on the need to "get it right" as it relates to new technologies and programs.
April 27, 2021
Takeaways from the Navy's Integrated Battle Problem 21 will play a role in developing a concept of operations for the service's unmanned campaign plan released six weeks ago, Rear Adm. Robert Gaucher, the director of maritime headquarters for U.S. Pacific Fleet, told reporters Monday.
April 26, 2021
The future battlefield might move too fast for Army commanders to check with lawyers about the legality and morality of some decisions, especially when soldiers are confronted with swarms of autonomous robots, the leader of Army Futures Command said April 22.
April 26, 2021
The Marine Corps will activate, deactivate, or reorganize various units across its aviation, logistics and ground combat forces as the service moves to implement Commandant David Berger's force design efforts, including exploring a transition into a majority-unmanned aviation force.
April 20, 2021
The Pacific Fleet's Integrated Battle Problem 21 will include three so-called "vignettes" over the course of the next week off the coast of San Diego in order to integrate manned and unmanned capabilities "into the most challenging operational scenarios."
April 19, 2021
The Army-led Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office earlier this month held a demonstration with industry at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, focused on low collateral effects interceptors, the first of a series of semi-annual demonstrations the Defense Department is hosting to evaluate technologies capable of countering growing threats from small UASs.
April 16, 2021
As the Navy moves forward with its new unmanned plan, members of Congress and industry executives are pressing for more details about how the technology will be used as well as how the service plans to manage intellectual property and requirements concerns.
April 14, 2021
Rear Adm. Brian Corey, the program executive officer for unmanned and weapons, said today the Navy intends to operate unmanned aircraft in "more congested airspace" as the service looks to expand and execute its unmanned campaign framework.
April 13, 2021
The Navy is working on testing and scaling unmanned capabilities as it moves to implement its unmanned campaign plan, Rear Adm. Casey Moton, the program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants, said Tuesday.
April 9, 2021
The Navy, which last fall proposed a $3.6 billion, five-year plan to launch a fleet of Large Unmanned Surface Vehicles packed with long-range missiles, is now conducting an analysis to determine if an LUSV is the most appropriate platform to add offensive punch to the surface fleet -- an assessment mandated by Congress and which the service aims to complete by October.
April 5, 2021
The Marine Corps last November notched a successful demonstration of the planned Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, firing a Naval Strike Missile from a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle in an event that validated the basic design concept and supports continued development of the Remote Operated Ground Unit Expeditionary -- or ROGUE -- vehicle, according to service officials.
April 2, 2021
The schedule for installing the MQ-25 control system on Navy aircraft carriers is "under review" due to recent changes in the ground control station, a Navy spokeswoman tells Inside Defense.
March 31, 2021
Rear Adm. Gregory Harris said the "family of systems" in the Next-Generation Air Dominance Program will involve a combination of manned and unmanned systems, with the goal "over time" of getting to a 60-40 ratio in favor of unmanned systems.
March 26, 2021
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) said she doesn't have "the confidence" in either the technology or the integrity of autonomous platforms for unmanned systems to replace the current naval fleet.
March 19, 2021
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who recently joined the Senate Armed Services Committee, is urging Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to continue funding the Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper production line as he develops the Pentagon's fiscal year 2022 budget proposal.
March 18, 2021
The Army will host its second soldier operational experiment for the light and medium Robotic Combat Vehicles from June to August 2022, a service official said March 16 at the Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Next conference.
March 18, 2021
Just two days after the Navy released its unmanned campaign plan, the first chance for senior Navy and Marine Corps officials to defend their framework was met with skepticism from House lawmakers.
March 16, 2021
With an eye on China's huge naval fleet, the future of technology and possible flat defense budgets, the Navy and Marine Corps unveiled a plan today to expeditiously incorporate unmanned systems into the aviation, surface and subsurface fleets to keep up with the dynamic security landscape.
March 9, 2021
The Defense Department through the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Office is asking industry for solutions on a new prototype open systems architecture project focused on High-Level Data Fusion, according to a recent notice.