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Emerging Tech

A U.S. Army soldier with 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, assigned to Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB), monitors the southern border through binoculars during a patrol in Yuma, Az., Jan. 5, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sawyer Carleton)

After back-to-back airspace blunders earlier this year, border task force shoots down ‘cartel-linked’ drones with AV laser

Over two days this week, Joint Task Force-Southern Border used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system to engage three "hostile" UAS, according to a press release.
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Christian Gillham, a mortarman and team leader with 3rd Littoral Combat Team, 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, flies a first-person view unmanned aircraft system for a long-range simulated strike during the Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Aug. 11, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Barker)

Marine Corps bets on techy, but human-centric ground warfare for next 15 years

The service released a new strategic blueprint called Ground Combat Element 2040.
Director of Golden Dome for America (GDA) Gen. Mike Guetlein and Vice Director for GDA Lt. Gen. Brian Gibson receive a briefing on the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) at North Field, Andersen Air Force Base, July 16, 2026. LTAMDS is the U.S. Army’s next-generation 360-degree air and missile defense radar designed to detect and track advanced ballistic, hypersonic, cruise missile and airborne threats. (U.S. Navy photo by William J. Busby III)

Initial Golden Dome tests focused on C2, software

“They were designed to validate software, they were designed to validate sensor-to-shooter linkages that perhaps are different than what today exists,” Lt. Gen. Brian Gibson said.
Members of the Air Force and Ohio Air National Guard look at laptops during field prototype testing evaluation for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Portable Command and Control Enclave (C2E). (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Shane Hughes).

Air Force conducts tests of CCA ground control system prototypes

The Command and Control Enclave (C2E) program is another new effort under development for the Air Force's robotic wingman platforms.
Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael and Assistant Secretary of War for Science and Technology Dr. Joseph S. Jewell take questions from the press. following the Department of Defense Lab Day at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 05, 2026. (DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Carson Croom)

Pentagon’s S&T boss touts early benefits of re-org, including ‘virtuous cycles of collaboration’

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology Joseph Jewell briefed DefenseScoop on the DOD’s new structure to enable innovation.
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U.S. Air Force F-16 Falcons from Ellington Field, Texas, receive fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 from the 117th Air Refueling Wing, Alabama on June 13, 2023. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Faddis.)

Portfolio executives describe changing roles as Air Force completes acquisition overhaul

Officials say shifting authority to portfolio acquisition executives is changing how they oversee modernization, sustainment and contracting — though they acknowledge the broader acquisition transformation remains a…
A YFQ-44A, part of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, undergoes an undated captive carry test at a California test location. This test phase uses inert munitions to methodically validate weapons integration, structural performance and safety, ensuring the platform can safely carry external stores. (Courtesy Air Force photo)

Air Force could tap up to 6 vendors for second increment of CCA drone program

“We have another approximately 10 months left of our concept-refinement contract, where we would expect to have the refined attributes as we did before, as well as…
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