Picking 1st ABMS capabilities to top issue. ““I’ve been waiting for the department’s equivalent of a Sputnik or Alpha-Go moment where AI did something that could not have been done otherwise,” Roper said.”
Anduril among companies tapped to build the Air Force’s ‘internet of things’ for war. “… the ABMS competition would bring in “fresh blood,” particularly commercially focused companies “that know a lot about data, that know a lot about machine learning and [artificial intelligence] and know a lot about analytics.””
New website demystifies DoD acquisition for industry. Tons of good info. Here “With an emergence of a Knowledge Economy and Fifth Industrial Revolution, knowledge—in this case IP—truly is power now.”
Good slide deck on AFRL’s Information Directorate.
DoD seeks consortium for national security innovation network (NSIN)’s prototype projects. “A solicitation notice posted Friday says NSIN is seeking a consortium manager through the Institute for Nascent Innovations program to help identify entities for inclusion in the consortium.”
Five ways GAO fails to understand defense industry independent R&D. “Projects were compared with priorities that didn’t exist when they began.” Perhaps that’s some of the problem. Here’s another one: “Incremental research may not be exciting, but it is more likely to yield useful results.” Focusing on probability of success rather than the impact of success is exactly the problem!
The tyranny of distance: assessing and explaining the apparent decline in US military performance. Not sure if there’s anything useful here. “We then show that the distance from home at which the United States fights is the best predictor of the outcome of the conflict.”
The Air Force’s secret Next Gen Air Demonstrator isn’t what you think it is. “In fact, the entire ‘fighter’ like concept associated with it could be far more of misdirection than reality. The ‘demonstrator’ could actually be an entire family of rapidly prototyped and already developed systems, with the networking and command and control architecture, shared sensors, and weapons being far more of a focus than the airframes themselves.” Well, that’s what I’d hope it is.
Defense innovation is falling short. “… the awareness of advanced technology alone is insufficient, and must be combined with access in order to be effective. This means government officials need to obtain funding and access to contract or alternative acquisition mechanisms (such as Other Transaction Agreements) before scouting new technologies.”
CIA launches first federal lab. “The Central Intelligence Agency announced Monday the launch of its first-ever federal lab, a new internal organization that will allow its officers to obtain patents and licenses for intellectual property they create while working at the agency.”
Edward Luttwak: The high stakes of quantum computing. “… perfectly feasible quantum computers could out-calculate today’s very largest computer not by a factor of ten, or a hundred, or a thousand, but by a ratio too high to be worth estimating.”
BAE wants to halve the time and reduce the cost of building aircraft. “Embedding advanced manufacturing technologies like additive manufacturing, robot-assisted assembly lines, intelligent logistics and autonomous robotics to boost productivity are all key to driving a more agile manufacturing capability to suit low and variable build rates.”
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