ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – JANUARY 30: Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. The American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided with a military helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
A quantum sensor-based magnetic anomaly navigation system gathers data on a C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft during a flight over Charleston, South Carolina, Feb. 22, 2024. SandboxAQ’s concept relies on quantum sensors that detect the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation in the event that the Global Positioning System is jammed or rendered ineffective. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ashley N. Mikaio)
Defense officials see quantum sensors as promising capabilities for alternative positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall flies in the X-62 VISTA in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, California, May 2, 2024. (Air Force photo by Richard Gonzales)
AI tests being conducted at Edwards Air Force Base will inform the service's testing efforts for future programs, such as Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
A U.S. Marine holds a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Innovation Office challenge coin after being presented the coin on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Dec 1, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher R. Lape)
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A Lightning II, assigned to the No. 3 Squadron, arrives to receive fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus from the 13th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron over Australia during Talisman Sabre 23, July 26, 2023. Talisman Sabre is the U.S.’s largest bilateral exercise in Australia that demonstrates the capability to rapidly deploy and operate to accomplish a wide range of missions alongside joint and allied partners in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Eric Summers Jr.)