Included in the roster of partnerships — intended for “lawful operational use” — are SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.

“These agreements accelerate the transformation toward establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force and will strengthen our warfighters’ ability to maintain decision superiority across all domains of warfare,” the department said in a statement.

“Together, the War Department and these strategic partners share the conviction that American leadership in AI is indispensable to national security,” it continued.

Under the agreements, systems will be rolled out within the department’s Impact Level 6 and Impact Level 7 network environments, where they are intended to streamline data synthesis, elevate situational understanding and augment decision-making in complex operational environments.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the financial terms of the contracts.

Notably absent from the announcement is the AI frontier lab Anthropic, which the Department of Defense designated a supply-chain risk to U.S. national security in March. The move was the first of its kind against an American firm.

The dispute is predicated on Anthropic’s refusal to grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to its Claude models for use in fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance.

At the height of the furor, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X, declared that “effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner” doing business with the Pentagon may engage in any commercial activity with the company.

Anthropic subsequently filed two separate lawsuits in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., asking federal judges to overturn the Trump administration’s order. The case remains ongoing.

Signs of rapprochement, however, have emerged in recent weeks. President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles and other senior officials met with Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei at the White House on April 17.

Following the meeting, Trump told CNBC that a deal with the firm was “possible,” adding, “They’re very smart, and I think they can be of great use. I like smart people. I like high-IQ people, and they definitely have high IQs.”

As the new initial course in the recon training pipeline, GRC is one of two programs, alongside the Amphibious Reconnaissance Course, replacing the service’s Basic Reconnaissance Course.

The new curriculum, which was launched April 27 at the Camp Pendleton-based Reconnaissance Training Company, was developed following analysis of how recon training can best support the service’s Force Design initiatives.

The Reconnaissance Training Company, or RTC, trains Marines who will fight as part of scout or reconnaissance teams within the Corps’ Ground Combat Element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.

“Marine Reconnaissance training will have the same rigor it’s long been famous for,” Maj. Gen. Michael A. Brooks, commanding general of Training Command, said in a May 1 release. “These changes are incredibly valuable, shaping a force capable of providing critical intelligence in dynamic and complex environments and ensuring our Marines remain the most effective on the battlefield.”

The curriculum updates, meanwhile, are also designed to enhance students’ infantry skills by way of replacing Marine Combat Training for non-infantry Marines with the Infantry Rifleman Course.

“This change reduces wait times and offers early exposure to human performance support, ensuring a smoother progression through infantry, aquatic and physical training to better prepare Marines for the demands of reconnaissance training,” the release stated.

Students attending the Ground Reconnaissance Course will undertake a combination of lecture and practical application training in land navigation, water survival, communications, surveillance, patrolling and supporting arms.

The Amphibious Reconnaissance Course, meanwhile, is designed to supplement the foundational training provided during the Infantry Rifleman Course and GRC.

The ARC focuses on aquatic operations, amphibious mission planning and use of unique communications and sensor equipment, among other areas.

Marines who finish the ARC will be given the military occupational specialty of Reconnaissance Marine, or 0321.

The replacement of the Basic Reconnaissance Course was hinted at in early April by Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos A. Ruiz, who noted in a Facebook post that the April 3 graduating class would be one of the last before the service transitioned to courses more aligned with the 2030 Force Design objectives.

That particular graduating class included Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who was presented the Medal of Honor in 2011 by President Barack Obama for actions in Afghanistan.

Meyer, 37, reenlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in April 2025 because he believed he “had more to give,” he stated previously.

Military Times editor Cristina Stassis contributed to this report.

Finishing off the foe’s stubborn resistance, a Kestrel first-person-view (FPV) drone carrying an explosive payload slammed into the enemy bunker. Afterwards, sweating profusely in the 97ºF heat, the Americans and Filipinos secured the area.

This jungle patrol in the thickly vegetated training area of Fort Magsaysay, located 75 miles north of Manila, was just one of many events taking place across the Philippines in Exercise Balikatan 2026.

More than 17,000 troops from seven countries are participating in this multilateral exercise being held from Apr. 20 to May 8.

The major U.S. Army contingent in Balikatan is the 3rd Mobile Brigade of the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division. The soldiers conducting this realistic drill were from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, alongside troops from the Philippine Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.

This engagement integrating new tech underscored how the “Tropic Lightning” division is transforming and adopting new technologies as one of the Army’s two original Transformation in Contact divisions. It is required to do so by the changing nature of modern warfare.

Col. Adisa King, the 3rd Mobile Brigade commander, told Defense News that technology does help: “It reduces risk a little bit, but it allows you to see farther.”

“The challenge is how do you mass that? What if I had ten of those [drones]?” King asked. “They go up to disrupt or they go up to help me see, and we push them all the way down to lower levels. But sustainment is the issue.”

Indeed, the technology can be fickle, King pointed out: Drones can overheat in the tropical climate, soldiers have to lug extra equipment around, jungles are often too thick for FPVs, and recharging batteries is another challenge.

Yet King listed three things his brigade gains from participating in Balikatan: becoming familiar with an environment the soldiers might one day fight in; learning from partners; and rehearsing how to fight together.

Underscoring their modernization push, these Hawaii-based soldiers were carrying the latest M7 assault rifles, and new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV) provided them rapid maneuverability.

Lightning Lab innovation

Elsewhere, Lightning Labs illustrates how the 25th Infantry Division is prioritizing innovation and iteration. This cell was designed to accelerate the adoption of new technologies.

The Kestrel “killer” FPV quadcopter, measuring five inches across and capable of swarming, is one such fruit. CW3 Aaron Dunson, Operations Officer of Lightning Labs, said the Kestrel is designed for mass production. The aim is to get them into the hands of soldiers so they can identify their capabilities and limitations.

Lightning Labs is also developing a high-speed drone interceptor. In addition, the lab was testing a containerized solar-panel micro grid to generate electricity, a quieter alternative to diesel generators. Dunson described it as “a very viable solution” in the Philippines.

He shared that his cell is covering capability gaps while industry races to catch up. “Our piece of this pie is to identify the opportunity and then present it to the subject matter experts within the division and say, ‘Is this usable?’”

Forge ahead

Another innovation appeared last year – the Forge – an INDOPACOM initiative where a dozen Army and Marine personnel run an expeditionary manufacturing capability based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. It is armed with deployable equipment like industrial-grade 3D printers (polymer and metal), milling machines and 3D scanners.

The Forge comes up with rapid solutions. During Balikatan, for example, a road grader from an engineering unit was disabled due to broken bolts. Instead of waiting ten weeks for spares to arrive from the U.S., the Forge reverse-engineered and manufactured them in six hours.

Likewise, soldiers complained of broken bipods on their new M50 machine guns, so the unit came up with a 3D-printed solution to fix that too.

The Forge’s services have been in demand throughout Balikatan. It had 36 projects on the go, with twelve completed by halfway through the exercise. One of them was producing 300 Kestrel drone frames.

The Forge saves soldiers time and money. CW2 Kevin Ton, officer in charge of the Forge, said it had saved $23,000 and a cumulative 96 months in waiting time for spare parts in the first week of Balikatan alone.

With multiple security challenges in Asia-Pacific – high among them being Chinese belligerence – there is a need for the Army to adapt quickly and to speedily field the latest technologies.

The 25th Infantry Division epitomizes this rapid change that United States Army Pacific is undergoing. Another example is that it is the Army’s only infantry division to possess HIMARS rocket launchers.

Hegseth argued that the pause in hostilities freezes the ticking clock that would otherwise require the president either to get agreement from lawmakers or to end military operations after 60 days.

“We are in a ceasefire right now, which [in] our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses, or stops,” Hegseth told Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Kaine, who was Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, strongly disputed Hegseth’s interpretation.

“I do not believe the statute would support that,” Kaine said, adding that he has “serious constitutional concerns and we don’t want to layer those with additional statutory concerns.”

The 60-day threshold is delineated in the War Powers Resolution of 1973. The most relevant part of that law makes no mention of a ceasefire, stating instead that a president needs to inform Congress within 48 hours of hostilities commencing. After such a report, the law states that “within sixty calendar days” the president must “terminate any use of United States Armed Forces” unless Congress consents to an extension.

Friday marks 60 days since the Trump administration notified Congress that it had launched strikes on Iran. The law gives the president the option to ask for a 30-day extension, though it is unclear whether Trump intends to do so.

A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the White House’s position, told Military Times that for the purposes of the War Powers Resolution, the conflict that began on Feb. 28 is now considered “terminated.”

The official pointed to the ceasefire brokered on April 7, emphasizing that there has been no exchange of fire between U.S. and Iranian forces since it took hold.

Washington and Tehran are now locked in a high-stakes stalemate. Trump has responded to the Islamic Republic’s effective seizure of the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s oil typically flows — by ordering a blockade on all vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports.

After the president suggested the blockade could persist for months, the global oil price hit a wartime high on Thursday, with Brent crude briefly topping $126 a barrel.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that Trump has been “transparent with the Hill since before Operation Epic Fury began, and administration officials provided over 30 bipartisan briefings for members of Congress to keep them apprised of military updates.”

Kelly added: “The president’s preference is always diplomacy, and Iran wants to make a deal.”

Hegseth’s remarks came during his second consecutive day on Capitol Hill, where he testified under oath that, eight weeks into the war with Iran, America’s top adversary is not any foreign nation — but instead the “reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.”

The Pentagon chief repeatedly cast those members of Congress as undercutting the U.S. military’s performance in Iran, while criticizing them for their failure to acknowledge the achievements of Operation Epic Fury.

“President Trump has had the courage, unlike other presidents, to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon and that their nuclear blackmail never succeeds,” Hegseth said in his opening statement.

He blasted “defeatists from the cheap seats who, two months in, seek to undermine the incredible efforts that have been undertaken, and the historic nature of taking on a 47-year threat with the courage no other president has had, to great success and great opportunity for preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”

The hearing quickly devolved into confrontation when a protester interrupted the proceedings, shouting, “Pete Hegseth, you’re a war criminal,” before being swiftly escorted out by Capitol Police Officers.

Attention then shifted to Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, who accused Hegseth of overstating the U.S. military’s accomplishments.

“The problem with your statements, Mr. Secretary, is they are dangerously exaggerated,” Reed said. “Iran’s hardline regime remains in place. It still retains stockpiles of enriched uranium, and its nuclear program remains viable.”

Reed asserted that the Islamic Republic is far from depleted. Iran retains, he said, enough combat effectiveness to sustain a protracted impasse; an arsenal of missiles and drones that constitutes a more serious threat than the secretary has publicly conceded; and a demonstrated ability to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz when it chooses.

“I am concerned that you have been telling the president what he wants to hear, instead of what he needs to hear,” Reed continued. “Our military has performed heroically, but military force without a sound strategy is a path to long-term defeat.”

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. Navy is clearing Iranian mines from the strait, a vital sea route for oil shipments, whose disruption is increasingly threatening the global economy. Sweeping for underwater explosives could take months despite a tenuous ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran in their weeks-long war.

The up to $100 million contract for the San Francisco artificial intelligence company Domino Data Lab could quicken this process with software that can teach underwater drones to identify new types of mines in a matter of days.

‘Alpha’ troops and more ships: Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao outlines vision for service

“Mine-hunting used to be a job for ships,” Thomas Robinson, Domino’s chief operating officer, said in an interview with Reuters. “It’s becoming a job for AI. The Navy is paying for the platform that lets it train, govern, and field that AI at a speed required for contested waters that block global trade and imperil sailors.”

Last week, the U.S. Navy awarded the up to $99.7 million contract to expand Domino’s role as the AI backbone of the Navy’s Project AMMO - Accelerated Machine Learning for Maritime Operations - a program to make underwater mine detection faster, more accurate, and less dependent on human sailors.

The software integrates data from multiple sensor types, including side-scan sonar and visual imaging systems, and allows the Navy to monitor how well various AI detection models are performing in the field, identify failures, and push corrections to improve performance.

The core of Domino’s pitch - and the Navy’s wager - is speed. Before the company’s involvement, updating the AI models that power the Navy’s unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to recognize new or previously unseen mines could take up to six months. Domino says it has cut that cycle to days.

Robinson illustrated the relevance to the Middle East crisis: “If there were UUVs in the Baltic Sea trained on Russian mines, and then they needed to be deployed to the Strait of Hormuz to detect Iranian mines, with Domino’s technology, the Navy could be ready in a week rather than a year.”

A Navy spokesman was not immediately able to provide comment.