Defense Tech
US Air Force ACE: Preparing Aircraft for a New Reality
Could aircraft survive and fight from improvised strips while enemy sensors circle? That urgent question sparked Agile Combat Employment — a 2021 doctrine that swaps big bases for dispersed, mobile, and resilient nodes and empowers frontline leaders to keep planes flying under fire.
HMDs Close Rotary-Wing Pilot-Crew Awareness Gap
Imagine every crewmember seeing the same eyes‑out, real‑time picture—helmet‑mounted displays fuse sensors and shared symbology to collapse communication delays and turn split‑second threats into coordinated action.
Keeping F-35s Fighting When GPS Is Denied
When GPS is deliberately cut, jets can’t afford to go blind. Collins Aerospace’s delivery of the 1,000th anti‑jam GPS receiver is a practical win for a braided resilience strategy—CRPAs, beamforming, advanced signal processing and high‑grade INS—that helps keep F‑35s fighting when satellite signals are denied.
Shield AI Stunning VTOL Drone Promises Safer Combat
What if jets could take off like helicopters from a ship, a roadside clearing, or a backyard field? Shield AI’s jet‑powered VTOL fighter drone promises exactly that—faster, dispersed airpower launched without runways, but it also raises tough questions about ethics, logistics and escalation.
Shield AI Stunning VTOL Drone: Affordable Breakthrough
Imagine jet-powered VTOL drone fighters that need no runway—Shield AI’s runway‑free ambition could let autonomous jets launch from ships, forward sites or improvised clearings and upend the geography of air combat. If fielded at scale, that shift would shrink response times, multiply launch options and make air operations far more agile and resilient.
Shield AI Exclusive Stunning Affordable VTOL Combat Drone
Shield AI’s jet-powered VTOL autonomous fighter drone could free airpower from runways, offering fighter-like speed, range and payload from streets, ships or improvised strips. Affordable and dispersible, it promises greater resilience and a whole new way to project strike and ISR.
Shield AI Debuts Stunning Efficient Autonomous Combat VTOL
Meet a machine that refuses to wait for a runway: Shield AI’s new jet-powered autonomous VTOL can launch from ships, forward sites or improvised clearings, slashing response times and making enemy targeting far trickier. It’s a bold leap in autonomy and propulsion that could reshape how air power is projected—and how wars are fought.
3 Major Challenges for Modern C2 Centers on Battlefield
What happens when a commander can’t see, speak to, or trust her staff? Ukraine has turned that question into a real-world test—jamming, cyberattacks, swarms and long-range fires are making information a weapon and forcing militaries to rethink how they protect and run C2 centers.
SPARTA Integrates E-2D Simulation into JSE
This summer Collins Aerospace will deliver SPARTA — a deployable afloat/ashore E-2D trainer — into the DoD’s Joint Simulation Environment, letting crews rehearse sensing, command-and-control, and joint multi‑domain operations in a single shared synthetic battlespace. By simulating the Advanced Hawkeye’s sensors and C2 functions, SPARTA slashes flight hours while sharpening the carrier strike groups readiness for real-world contingencies.
Modern LVC Tools Essential for NAVPLAN Compliance
Training for tomorrow’s naval fights requires more than plane-and-range time — it needs LVC: live, virtual and constructive systems stitched together to deliver the reach, realism and repeatability NAVPLAN demands. Federating simulators, live assets and computer-generated forces lets the fleet rehearse complex, distributed missions at scale and keep readiness high without burning endless sorties.
Why Modern LVC Training Is Essential for NAVPLAN Compliance
NAVPLAN requires training that mirrors modern, multi-domain warfare — and Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) training is the scalable, lower-risk solution, blending real forces, simulators, and computer-generated scenarios. It expands realistic practice, cuts cost and danger, and helps sailors and aviators stay ready for the fights ahead.
300K MEMS IMUs: Global Shift to Guided Weapons
A thumbnail-sized MEMS IMU is quietly reshaping the battlefield: these tiny sensors can turn cheap rockets and mortar rounds into precision-guided weapons. The global buy of 300,000 units shows militaries are favoring affordable, mass-produced accuracy over sheer volume.
HMDs Close Rotary-Wing Situational Awareness Gap
When a helicopter pilot sees a threat but the crew doesn’t, head‑mounted displays (HMDs) are the game‑changer that puts the same real‑time battlefield picture into every crewmember’s eyes. By fusing sensors, stabilizing visuals, and trimming cockpit chatter, HMDs collapse delays and make rotary‑wing teams faster, safer, and far more effective in contested low‑altitude environments.
U.S. Air Force Adopts ACE to Ready Aircraft for New Threats
Instead of clinging to big, fixed bases, the Air Force is adopting Agile Combat Employment. Think nimble teams, temporary runways, and prepositioned supplies that let aircraft disperse, survive, and strike back in a high-tech, contested battlespace.
How the F-35 Keeps Fighting When GPS Is Denied
GPS jamming won’t ground the F‑35 — Collins Aerospace’s delivery of the 1,000th anti‑jam receiver proves the jet’s layered navigation system can keep it finding its way, fixing targets and staying in the fight even when satellite signals are denied.
Navy to Upgrade Destroyer Radar to Counter China, Russia
Rather than scrap battle-tested Arleigh Burke destroyers, the Navy is retrofitting their radars—from SPY-1 upgrades to AN/SPY-6 installs—to outpace China’s and Russia’s longer-range missiles and advanced sensors and keep these ships combat-ready while new warships are built.
Army Explains Spending Reduction in Modular Handgun Program
Before you assume the Modular Handgun System is dead, know the Army says the modest $6 million in FY2020 reflects procurement pacing and shifting priorities—its a signal, not the whole story.
USMC Deploys Upgraded Portable Forensics Labs
Imagine a patrol that can turn evidence into answers on the spot. The Marine Corps is fielding upgraded portable forensics kits—compact sensors, biometric readers and ruggedized computing—that speed identification, sharpen intelligence and help separate insurgents from civilians in austere environments.
Shield AI Unveils Autonomous VTOL Combat Drone
Shield AI says it has built a jet-powered, runway-free autonomous VTOL fighter — a drone that can launch from ships, forward sites or improvised clearings. If proven, it could slash response times, confound air-defense planning and fundamentally reshape how air power is projected.
U.S. Army Accelerates AV Use for Drone Interceptor Missile
When enemy drones cost less than the missiles that try to stop them, you need a smarter, cheaper solution. The U.S. Army is fast‑tracking purpose‑built interceptors—tapping AeroVironment to build the Next‑Generation C‑UAS Missile and a Long‑Range Kinetic Interceptor to make airspace denial precise and affordable.
U.S. Army Selects AV for New Drone Interceptor Missile
The U.S. Army has tapped AeroVironment with a $95.9 million award to build a long‑range kinetic interceptor under its NGCM/LRKI program. It’s a concrete step toward turning cheap, garage‑built drone swarms from an overwhelming nuisance into a targetable threat by extending engagement range and reaction time.
U.S. Army Selects AV for Drone Interceptor Missile
When the sky stopped feeling safe, the Army turned to AeroVironment — makers of the Raven and Puma — awarding $95.9M to build a Next‑Gen interceptor missile that brings kinetic punch to stop swarming quadcopters, fast drones and loitering munitions.
Thales, Kongsberg Test New Strike System in Live Trials
Could a troop‑carrying Bushmaster become a sea‑hunter? In Norway Thales and Kongsberg proved it can — firing a Naval Strike Missile from a Bushmaster‑based StrikeMaster to demonstrate a containerised, vehicle‑mounted anti‑ship system that turns a protected mobility vehicle into a nimble, road‑mobile sea‑denial asset.
Thales and Kongsberg Test New Strike System in Live Trials
Think of the trusty Bushmaster with fangs: Thales and Kongsberg just proved a protected land vehicle can launch the Naval Strike Missile in live trials in Norway, showcasing a fast, concealable, networked coastal-strike option. The StrikeMaster demo pairs Australian mobility with a modern NSM seeker to slash reaction times and validate performance under tough, real-world conditions.