DDR&D (MAFAT) - Directorate of Defense Research & Development’s Post

In two conflict-ridden decades, unmanned combat and reconnaissance systems have gone from being exotic capabilities fielded by a handful of armed forces to ubiquitous staples of military conflicts across the globe by state and non-state actors alike. We lie on the cusp of a new revolution in unmanned warfare as advances in sensors and artificial intelligence are poised to allow a growing range of uncrewed systems to perform their missions with much more limited direction from their human operators. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e6HRReUC #uas #ai #defense #unmannedsytems Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Shield AI Anduril Industries General Atomics

More than two years into its conflict against a much larger foe, Ukraine has retained an asymmetric advantage on the battlefield by leveraging state-of-the-art technologies – particularly unmanned systems – to supercharge its military strategy. Indeed, the adoption of new technologies is transforming every aspect of defense, both on and behind the front lines – and, according to our National Security Chairman and former U.S Secretary of Defense, Mark T. Esper, Ph.D., the United States must “do everything in our power to ensure our military has the advanced AI, robotics, and autonomy tools it needs to fight – and win – the battles of tomorrow.” Learn more about how advanced technologies are “altering the character of warfare” in Dr. Esper’s new op-ed, published today in the Military Times: https://lnkd.in/eP2T6GmT #nationalsecurity #defensetech #defense #dod

In my latest analytical piece for 19FortyFive, I examine the evolution of warfare in Ukraine. #Drones, sensors, and even civilian #OSINT enthusiasts are making the battlefield more 'transparent'. This has had two major impacts: 1️⃣ Troops have to disperse to survive because larger massed formations are more easily detected and destroyed thanks to improved #ISTAR capabilities. 2️⃣ The offence-defence balance has shifted to defence because attackers struggle to achieve surprise. https://lnkd.in/ejFwUYyY

About operational surprise and transparent battlefield As of 2024-08-08, it's clear that Ukrainians have achieved not only tactical but operational surprise at Kursk. Apparently, they have concentrated no less than two full mechanized brigades, and the advance rhythm is far from the usual costly and glacier-like pace of this phase of the war. The scope and final result of this offensive remain to be seen, but it has shown beyond any doubt the facts stated above. This is truly remarkable. Allegedly, the vast numbers of all kinds of drones on both sides make it almost impossible to concentrate forces before movement without being detected in hours, if not minutes. From that, movement is supposed to be tracked in real-time, and the commander in charge of the defense can choose the optimal combination of effectors for first blunting and then stopping the attacking forces. During the last months, it was less and less frequent that armored forces ventured close to the contact line because of the inevitability of being detected and then attacked until mobility kill or direct obliteration. Besides the transparent battlefield, there is the distributed mass of effectors. Not only drones, of course, but nevertheless, a lot of cheap and effective FPVs are used against any valuable target in the needed numbers. It's becoming less and less possible to advance kilometers without being stopped or destroyed by a combination of effectors. And nothing like that is happening. The inventors of distributed mass of drones are showing the world that in some cases, it's possible to group, concentrate, and advance. Possibly Russian commanders didn't dedicate too many unmanned ISR resources to this part of the frontline because of their focus on obtaining as many advances as possible in the contested areas. General disruption is so overwhelming that it makes it really difficult to distill learned lessons by extrapolating for specific scenarios. This very offensive is actually a warning for the Ukrainians, because they also have a sizeable frontier capable of receiving a comparable offensive. And for NATO forces: a chain is as strong as its weakest link, and because of that, if a transparent battlefield is demanded, there is a threat of false transparency if some area during some time is not sufficiently covered with ISR drones. Mass distributed drones are here to stay... and grow. We all are going to need an unprecedented amount of sensors, vectors, and effectors if we want to retain our past advantage against any other force.

When Palmer Luckey founded the defense startup Anduril in 2017, he aimed to challenge the dominant defense contractors by providing innovative and cost-effective military solutions. In just seven years, Anduril has proven its capability by securing significant contracts, including a prototype for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the US Air Force and Navy, outperforming established defense giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Anduril's success is attributed to its ability to rapidly deliver advanced drones, submarines, and other hardware integrated with sophisticated software, aligning with a shift in US military strategy towards quicker development and deployment of autonomous systems. Anduril's prototype CCA, named Fury, is still under development, alongside another test aircraft by General Atomics. The goal of the CCA program is to create drones that are more autonomous and capable of performing a wide range of missions, from reconnaissance to electronic warfare, either independently or in collaboration with human-piloted aircraft. This project signifies a major advancement in the use of AI for controlling military systems, aiming to enhance the US military's operational capabilities and maintain its strategic advantage through the use of automated and cost-effective uncrewed systems. The concept of drone swarms, where numerous drones operate together autonomously, represents a transformative approach to modern warfare. This strategy is being actively pursued by the US Department of Defense, which envisions these swarms as capable of overwhelming enemy defenses through sheer numbers and sophisticated AI coordination. Anduril's focus on integrating software with hardware positions it at the forefront of this technological shift, aiming to establish a new paradigm in autonomous aerial combat and maintaining US military dominance in the face of evolving global threats .

Max Boot, Washington Post Columnist covering national security "Indeed, many of the current defensive systems are too expensive to use for extended periods in combat. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, wrote in Foreign Affairs in August that “Iran’s April mass drone and missile strike against Israel cost at most $100 million, but U.S. and Israeli interception efforts cost more than $2 billion.” That’s not a sustainable or winning cost curve. As Jacobsen told me, “Drone innovation is happening at warp speed, but Defense Department acquisition is happening at industrial speed.” The Pentagon recognizes that it has a problem, which is why it recently unveiled plans for the Replicator 2 initiative. The original Replicator initiative, announced last year, was an urgent effort to field more drones for the U.S. military; Replicator is budgeted at $500 million for this year. Replicator 2, announced on Sept. 27, will focus on rapidly fielding technologies to counter small unmanned aerial systems."

Ukrainian EW in the spotlight at the AOC Europe 2024 International Conference From May 13-15, the international conference AOC Europe 2024 took place in Oslo, Norway, focusing on contemporary global trends in electronic warfare (EW) and reconnaissance. During the conference, Brave1 Project Lead Natalia Kushnerska spoke about the rapid development of the Ukrainian EW market and the solutions already being used by the Security and Defense Forces to "suppress" enemy drones. "The EW field is one of the most technologically dynamic. This requires intensive work on generating new and improving existing tools. Brave1 actively collaborates with manufacturers to ensure that every promising development quickly reaches the hands of the military. We are confident that foreign experience, expertise, and technologies can further accelerate this process, so we invite our partners to invest their knowledge and resources in Ukrainian defense tech," said the head of the Brave1 cluster. Currently, the cluster is working on three key areas of EW development: ◼ Short-range means ("trench" EW) ◼️ Mobile means for detecting enemy drones  ◼️ Solutions for affecting UAV control protocols (spoofing, etc.). To date, Ukrainian manufacturers have registered over 100 developments in the EW field on the Brave1 platform. The vast majority of them are short-range means necessary for the protection of military personnel, equipment, and positions. Nine products have already been codified according to NATO standards. Overall, more than 50 manufacturers of various levels are working in Ukraine, creating electronic warfare and intelligence tools. Our goal is to equip every unit of the Security and Defense Forces with effective electronic warfare tools. For this purpose, Brave1 has prioritized the EW direction as one of the main focuses this year.

High Energy Lasers are now being fielded as part of air defence. These weapons provide cost effective solutions to counter drones. More and more Nations will follow with weapon integration for a variety of plattforms. Recent battlefield experiences will probably prompt nations to speed up their laser development or procurement programmes.

#HighEnergyLaserWeapons #HighPowerMicrowaveWeapons #USA #USArmy #Stryker #Drones "The U.S. military is tinkering with high-energy lasers in Iraq as part of a broader effort to refine directed-energy weapons and more effectively counter drones, according to the leader of Central Command. The Army earlier this year sent several laser weapons mounted to Stryker combat vehicles to the Middle East. It was unclear at the time exactly where the prototypes were stationed, but the move was in advancement of the service’s short-range air defense goals. Gen. Michael Kurilla, the CENTCOM boss, on March 21 told Congress he has “three 50-kilowatt lasers that are Stryker-based” inside Iraq “right now.” Experiments are underway, he added, to identify their best application. He did not disclose preliminary results. A request made to the command for additional information was not immediately answered. High-energy lasers and related high-power microwave weapons are capable of downing incoming threats in unorthodox ways and at a fraction of the cost of traditional munitions. Lasers can fire at the speed of light and burn holes through material, but are susceptible to weather conditions and particles in the air, such as sand. Microwaves can fry electronics en masse, but their efficacy is stunted at greater distances. Both are considered critical elements of layered defense, or having multiple countermeasures ready to thwart different threats in different situations. “Directed energy is not the panacea,” Kurilla said at the House Armed Services Committee hearing. “What I tell all the services: Give me systems, we will experiment with them, and we will tell you if it works in a real, live environment.” The Army is increasingly concerned with overhead threats, including unmanned aerial vehicles that can spy on troops, augment targeting and deliver explosives. A drone attack in late January killed three Americans at Tower 22 in Jordan, near the Syrian border. ..."

The Future of Warfare: Military Robots Market Set to Double by 2030 The global military robots market is projected to reach $42.6 billion by 2030, driven by advancements in AI, automation, and increased defense budgets. Discover how unmanned systems are reshaping defense strategies and reducing human risk on the battlefield. 👉 Read our in-depth analysis: https://lnkd.in/d842_yDb #MilitaryRobots #DefenseTechnology #AI #MarketInsights