Shaun Waterman
Recent stories by Shaun Waterman
Air Force Piloting Hydrogen Energy Tech for Agile Combat Logistics
Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii is trialing novel energy technology to provide electrical power and hydrogen fuel in the kind of isolated and austere outposts the Air Force will need in the Pacific theater for its new Agile Combat Employment way of warfare.
Air Force Using Generative AI to Help Modernize Legacy Software
Military software developers are using generative AI-powered coding assistants to help them modernize decades-old legacy codebases, officials said this week. And the Department of the Air Force Bot Operations Team (DAFBOT), part of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, says it is leading the way.
DOD Plans Quicker, More Comprehensive Cybersecurity Standards for Contractors
Defense IT contractors who can demonstrate a secure supply chain and secure coding practices will soon be able to get fast track approval to have their products operate on DoD networks, radically shortening a process that often takes months or years at present, Pentagon Chief ...
Military AI Will Mean Overhauling Test as Well as Tactics: DOD’s First AI Chief
To employ autonomous weapons systems like pilotless aircraft and other artificial intelligence-powered innovations, the U.S. military will have to overhaul not just its strategy and tactics in every domain, but also the way it tests its technology, according to the Defense Department’s first ever AI ...
Space Force Focused on the Ground for Anti-Satellite Weapons
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.
AFWERX’s New AI-Powered Tool Will Track Objects in Orbit, Even as They Maneuver
AFWERX, the Air Force’s technology incubator, is funding the development of an AI-powered tool for identifying and tracking objects in low-Earth orbit, even as they maneuver and try to cloak themselves.
Civilian Cyber Vulnerabilities Threaten Pacific Deployment Plans: Report
The U.S. military’s ability to deploy troops across the vast Indo-Pacific theater relies on critical civilian infrastructure like railways and ports that is vulnerable to disruption by enemy cyber attacks, a new report warns.
Experts: US Military Needs ‘Software Literate’ Workforce, Not Just Coders
To make the best use of the technological advantage offered by America’s economy, the U.S. military doesn’t need squadrons of coders writing programs—it needs a “software literate” workforce that knows the right questions to ask of technology contractors, according to a new report from a ...
DARPA Eyes Quantum Sensors That Are Easier to Buy, Tougher in the Field
Earlier this year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, launched its new Robust Quantum Sensors program. It seeks to solve fundamental engineering challenges that have hampered the transition of quantum sensing from the laboratory to the battlefield, as well as a more esoteric ...
Experts: ‘Kudos’ to Air Force Progress on Kill Webs, but Some Problems Persist
The Air Force has made progress integrating its own kill webs and figuring out how to break the enemy's, but its partnership with industry on the issue has been hampered by programmatic silos and classification issues, executives from three of the biggest U.S. defense contractors ...
Why Intelligence Agencies Think They Can Finally Build a Common Picture for Warfighters
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.
Researchers: US Bombs May One Day Use Chinese GPS Signals
One day, U.S. military personnel might target smart weapons using location data from Chinese or Russian versions of GPS, researchers from the Air Force and Space Force said at the AFA Warfare Symposium on March 4.
How Is the Space Force Handling Civilian Personnel Cuts?
Looming cuts to the Pentagon’s civilian workforce will present a particular challenge to the Space Force with its proportionally high number of civilian Guardians, leaders said at the AFA Warfare Symposium.
USAF’s Software Startup, Kessel Run, Pivots ‘Back to the Future,’ as Some Cry Foul
Kessel Run is pivoting. The Air Force’s original software factory, which brought modern digital application practices like agile development and DevSecOps to the military, is changing the way it does business.
DARPA Eyes Protections for Common but Critical Computing System
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking for “revolutionary” ways to protect from hackers that workhorse of modern computing, the data bus, a standardized component that allows different pieces of IT equipment—including those in aircraft and weapons systems—to communicate.