The Navy has restructured the MQ-4C Triton unmanned air system program into three separate increments, citing "funding constraints," and has delayed initial operational capability to the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023, according to the Triton deputy program manager.
Unmanned Systems
June 16, 2021
The Army held a live-fire demonstration of the Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, a robotic version of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System that is in the early phases of development, today at Ft. Sill, OK.
June 15, 2021
The Army is developing a common robotic controller software that should make it easier for soldiers to operate a bevy of robots on the future battlefield, according to officials from the Ground Vehicle Systems Center.
June 7, 2021
The Navy's unmanned MQ-25 program completed its first-ever refueling from an unmanned tanker to a manned receiver aircraft, an F/A-18 Super Hornet, Friday, the service announced.
May 28, 2021
The Army, after eliminating seven programs in fiscal year 2022, will reinvest $47.8 million into next generation capabilities that support multidomain operations, according to the service's budget request released today.
May 28, 2021
Despite repeated statements from lawmakers and the Navy itself that the fleet needs to grow to counter China, the Navy plans to procure just eight ships in the Biden administration's fiscal year 2022 budget.
May 28, 2021
The Pentagon is seeking $245.6 billion in total modernization funds for fiscal year 2022, a $2.4 billion increase above what Congress enacted in FY-21, though the department plans to reduce procurement and divest some "outdated" weapon systems.
May 24, 2021
The Biden administration will send its fiscal year 2022 defense budget request to Congress on Friday, setting the stage for debates on spending levels, modernization priorities and the potential divestiture of weapon systems deemed unsuitable for competition with China, the Pentagon's "pacing challenge."
May 14, 2021
The Army's experiments with soldiers and Robotic Combat Vehicles are "mythbusting" the ways that robots will and will not change the battlefield, Maj. Gen. Ross Coffman, the director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team, told Inside Defense in a May 5 interview.
May 7, 2021
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.
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.