Unmanned Systems

The Air National Guard's MQ-9 enterprise has been quietly fighting under the radar to show the remotely piloted aircraft has utility in future operations by transforming its hunter-killer counterinsurgency capabilities to better enable joint all-domain command and control under a little-known initiative called the "Ghost Reaper," multiple sources tell Inside Defense.

The White House has sent the Senate Armed Services Committee a list of provisions in the fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill it does not like, but chose to lead with one President Trump has said would make him veto the entire must-pass bill -- the re-naming of U.S. military bases that currently honor Confederate leaders.

The Army is addressing capability gaps and receiving feedback from units assessing prototypes of the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System as the service works to define a capability development document for the effort, a service official said yesterday. (UPDATED)

The Air Force is collaborating with the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to leverage the digital infrastructure enabled by its enterprise-wide cloud, software development and data support initiatives to achieve Project Maven's original goals and develop 'AI as a service' for all the military departments.

The Army is addressing capability gaps and receiving feedback from units assessing prototypes of the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System as the service works to define a capability development document for the effort, a service official said yesterday.

The Navy has begun a prototyping effort to demonstrate a new autonomous integration capability that, if successful, will debuted in the fiscal year 2022 budget request, according to an officer overseeing the project.

L3Harris Technologies' new contract to build the Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel includes the maritime technology firm Gibbs & Cox as well as the Louisiana-based shipbuilder Swiftships as subcontractors, according to an L3Harris executive.

The Pentagon announced today the availability of new, U.S.-manufactured, small unmanned aircraft systems for a variety of government uses after the Defense Department and other federal agencies phased out their use of popular Chinese-made drones and components due to security concerns.

The Army has released an initial request for information for the investment strategy for Air-Launched Effects, drones that can perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks and deliver lethal effects against threats.