Recap: Highlights from the US Army’s 2025 conference in Washington
The Army continues to transform, with efforts focused on next-gen weaponry, long-range artillery, unmanned systems and much more.
Unmanned
Pentagon stages first ‘Top Drone’ school for operators to hone skills
Industry and military drone operators flew tethered and untethered first-person drones through a course designed to test endurance and maneuverability.
SASC advances Air Force secretary pick, six other nominees
President Joe Biden’s nominee for Air Force secretary and six other top Pentagon picks advanced out of the Senate Armed Services Committee by a voice vote Thursday.
NORAD, NORTHCOM want $80 million to test SpaceX and OneWeb in the Arctic
The military hopes the new satellite internet providers could help fill its long-standing Arctic connectivity gap.
DARPA’s newest system kills drones with stringy streamers
With testing complete, DARPA is now looking to transition the technology to acquisition programs.
Space Force seeks $832 million in classified spending, new missions and more in annual wish list
The unfunded priority list lays out funding requests on top of the $17.4 billion in the Space Force's annual budget proposal.
Multibeam antenna to improve communication passes first Air Force trials
The prototype antenna will be able to connect to multiple satellites simultaneously in different orbital ranges.
Space Force will set up one office for commercial services, including SATCOM and satellite imagery
Under the new Space Systems Command setup, the Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) will be expanded into a commercial services office.
The Air Force wants rocket deliveries to anywhere on Earth in under an hour
The service believes reusable commercial rockets like the ones SpaceX is developing could transport cargo all over the world.
Viasat to add military-grade encryption to experimental Link 16 satellite
The experimental satellite would enable beyond-line-of-sight communications for the Link 16 tactical network while reducing risk for the Space Development Agency's planned proliferated constellation.
Space Force seeks sizeable budget increase, reflecting the domain’s importance
The increase of 13 percent over last year's budget request includes the transfer of some satellite communications efforts from the U.S. Army and Navy.
