Mikayla Easley

Mikayla Easley reports on the Pentagon’s acquisition and use of emerging technologies. Prior to joining DefenseScoop, she covered national security and the defense industry for National Defense Magazine. She received a BA in Russian language and literature from the University of Michigan and a MA in journalism from the University of Missouri. You can follow her on Twitter @MikaylaEasley

Articles by Author

U.S. Army Soldiers experiment with new Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space equipment during the Army’s 2021 Positioning, Navigation and Timing Assessment Exercise at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. (U.S. Army photo by Austin Thomas, Army Futures Command)

Army Futures Command considering ‘repurposed’ CFT for space-based, deep sensing

Emerging Tech

Members from the 114th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron, 71st, 73rd, and 75th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Squadrons, 392d Combat Training Squadron, and 379th Space Range Squadron, pose for a group photo during BLACK SKIES 23-3 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Sept. 21, 2023. (Space Force photo)

Space Force’s latest ‘Black Skies’ training event focused on drone threats, joint operations

Space

Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear is interviewed by DefenseScoop Managing Editor Jon Harper at DefenseTalks, Sept. 15, 2022.

SDA director blasts critics inside DOD bureaucracy who don’t like his ‘bad cop’ attitude

Space

(Getty Images)

Space Force awards contract to protect space systems, data with zero-trust approach

Cyber

(Getty Images)

Eucom, Indopacom getting ‘Battle Labs’ to develop AI, data analytics capabilities

AI

Firefly Aerospace successfully launches U.S. Space Force VICTUS NOX Responsive Space Mission with 24-hours notice. (Firefly Aerospace photo)

Space Force gearing up for new challenges after record-setting rapid launch

Space

Spc. Gunner Livingston, an unmanned aircraft repairer, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry, inspects the Aerosonde Hybrid Quad before a vertical take off at a training site at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., June 21-22. The Aerosonde HQ was developed by Textron Systems, one of four companies that are part of a demonstration of commercial drones conducting various operations and training exercises over the span of the next six months to refine and replace requirements for the RQ-7 Shadow. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrew Wash)

Army picks Griffon, Textron to build tactical unmanned VTOL aircraft prototypes

Emerging Tech

U.S. Army Maj. Mitchell Daugherty, mission director for the National Space Defense Center, points to a screen in front of U.S. Space Force 1st Lt. Tia Scoggan, weapons and tactics section chief for the 18th Space Defense Squadron Det. 1, at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, Oct. 5, 2022. (U.S. Space Force photo by Tiana Williams)

Space Force opens second collaboration hub, looks to advance space domain awareness

Space

A XQ-58 Valkyrie launches for a test mission Aug. 22 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The mission successfully tested components that greatly reduce the risk of large scale crewed and uncrewed autonomous systems. (U.S. Air Force photo/2nd Lt. Rebecca Abordo)

Latest Valkyrie drone flight test focused on AI-enabled air combat

Emerging Tech