Future Forces

Extending the range of high-speed missiles has long been constrained by propulsion limits. Conventional rocket motors carry both fuel and oxidizer, which adds weight...

Policing vast rural territories presents a persistent challenge. In regional areas, specialist air support is often based hundreds of miles away, limiting rapid aerial...

One of the biggest obstacles to deploying very small autonomous robots is navigation. As machines shrink, the hardware required to determine position and direction...

Major international sporting events present a unique security challenge. Large crowds, unfamiliar visitors, confined urban spaces, and heightened global attention create conditions where even...

Modern autonomous systems depend heavily on continuous communication. Drone swarms, robotic teams, and distributed AI agents typically exchange data wirelessly to coordinate movement, share...

Modern military operations unfold simultaneously in the air, at sea, on land, in space and in cyberspace. Yet for decades, command-and-control systems were largely...

Stealth aircraft designers have long faced a hard tradeoff. Flying-wing bombers offer excellent range, efficiency, and low radar visibility, but they pay a price...

Small drones are already reshaping ground combat, but most weaponized variants still struggle with accuracy. Recoil, vibration, wind, and constant micro-movements make it difficult...

Developing vehicles that can travel at hypersonic speeds—Mach 5 and above—poses extreme engineering challenges. At such velocities, airframes are subjected to intense vibration, aerodynamic...

As drone warfare scales up, one problem has become increasingly acute: volume without coordination. When thousands of unmanned systems are launched daily across a...

Robots are often expected to operate where wheels fail: collapsed buildings, uneven ground, mud, ice, or debris-covered floors. Yet most legged robots still struggle...

Carrier-based air operations are increasingly constrained by range. As strike aircraft become more capable and missions push farther from the carrier, a growing share...

As military activity expands beyond the atmosphere, one problem is becoming increasingly clear: preparing for conflict in orbit is fundamentally different from training for...

Security agencies continue to face a difficult tradeoff when screening for explosives and hazardous chemicals. Imaging systems such as X-ray and millimeter-wave scanners can...

Modern borders are increasingly difficult to defend with traditional means alone. Fast-moving ground forces, low-flying drones, cyber interference, and long-range missiles compress reaction times...

The central challenge on the modern battlefield is transitioning from small-scale experiments to the operational deployment of autonomous systems in mass quantities. While many...

Robots are increasingly deployed in environments that are unsafe or inaccessible for humans, from collapsed buildings and underground tunnels to industrial sites and disaster...

European air forces are facing a growing capability gap at the lower end of the combat aviation spectrum. Many light multirole and trainer-based attack...

Modern navies face a growing mismatch between aging capital ships and the demands of future air warfare. Aircraft carriers must now support heavier aircraft,...

Naval mines continue to pose a disproportionate threat to modern fleets. Relatively cheap to deploy and difficult to detect, they can deny access to...

Air dominance is becoming harder to achieve as battlefields extend upward and outward, blurring the line between atmosphere and space. Traditional fighter jets are...

Long-range flights place heavy demands on both aircraft and passengers. Business jets are expected to link distant city pairs efficiently, operate from varied airports,...