SOF WEEK 2024 -- TAMPA, Florida. The U.S. military has been increasing efforts to develop trusted autonomy capabilities for its aircraft fleet. The Department of Defense (DoD) and its services and agencies have been working on several programs to enable the operation of their in-service airplanes by using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) software.

ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) reports that it accomplished full-scale, in-water testing of the Manta Ray prototype uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) -- built by Northrop Grumman -- during February and March 2024. 

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducted the first-ever in-air tests of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms piloting an F-16 fighter jet autonomously in direct combat scenarios against a human-piloted counterpart, the agency announced in a statement.

ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) DARPA named three industry partners for its Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program, which seeks to determine whether an underexplored approach to quantum computing can achieve utility-scale operation – in other words, that its computational value exceeds its cost – faster than conventional predictions.   

ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) chose four companies to develop a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) craft that operates at highers speeds than the current V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military aircraft.

TUCSON, Ariz. Raytheon will design, build, and test two high-power microwave antenna systems for the U.S. military that will use directed energy to defeat airborne threats; the systems are intended to be rugged and transportable for use on the front lines where needed. 

ARLINGTON, Va. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Raytheon a two-year, $10 million contract to design and develop a wireless airborne-relay system to deliver energy into contested environments as part of its Energy Web Dominance program.