Innovation

Robots can already fly reconnaissance missions, carry supplies and enter areas considered too dangerous for people. But many real-world environments are still designed around...

Military forces are adding drones and uncrewed ground vehicles faster than ever, but deploying more robots creates a new problem: someone still has to...

Long-range precision strikes are becoming increasingly difficult as electronic warfare disrupts GPS and communications links across the battlefield. Ground forces need weapons that can...

Mass attacks by one-way drones have created an increasingly difficult problem for air-defense forces. Systems such as the Shahed family can be launched in...

Small battery-powered drones face a basic limitation: endurance. Their motors, batteries and airframes must balance weight against the energy needed to stay airborne, often...

Monitoring remote stretches of water presents an awkward logistics problem. Boats can remain at sea for long periods but may take considerable time to...

Counter-drone systems have a reaction-time problem. If a hostile UAV is only detected or disrupted once it enters the range of a handheld jammer,...

Counter-drone weapons face a growing range problem. As unmanned aircraft become faster, more maneuverable and capable of operating farther from their targets, air-defense systems...

Detecting radio signals across a wide range of frequencies normally creates a hardware problem. Conventional antennas are closely tied to the wavelength they need...

Battery weight remains one of the biggest constraints on electric drones and autonomous systems. Adding more cells can extend range or endurance, but the...

Precision weapons face a growing navigation problem. GPS can be jammed or unavailable, while weapons that depend on continuous external targeting may lose their...

Small and medium-sized drones are forcing ground forces to rethink air defense. Fixed systems can protect bases and other permanent sites, but troops on...

Robot swarms could eventually search disaster zones, monitor hazardous areas or coordinate autonomous missions without requiring a human operator to control every machine. But...

Moving people and cargo quickly across coastal waters usually means choosing between two very different options. Boats can travel directly between ports but are...

Fixed-wing drones can travel farther and faster than many multirotor aircraft, but operating them can require more space, specialized launch and recovery procedures and...

Electronic warfare creates a tactical dilemma. Jamming hostile communications can protect troops and disrupt enemy operations, but transmitting interference can also reveal the location...

Cheap drones have created an expensive problem for air defense. Small UAVs can be deployed in large numbers, while shooting them down with conventional...

Electric boats face a problem familiar from the early days of electric cars: propulsion technology can advance faster than the infrastructure needed to recharge...

Modern combat aircraft can share crowded airspace with friendly fighters, allied forces and potential threats, sometimes while traveling at high speed and making decisions...

Light military vehicles face an uncomfortable tradeoff. They need to remain mobile enough to move personnel and equipment across difficult terrain, but crews may...

Drones are useful for surveillance and reconnaissance because they can remain overhead without putting a crew at risk. But they also create signatures that...

Satellites face a fundamental limitation in orbit: nearly everything they do depends on the electricity they can generate and store onboard. As spacecraft take...