SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii. Lockheed Martin demonstrated the first iteration of a Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) prototype during the U.S. Army’s Lightning Surge 1 exercise with the 25th Infantry Division and other stakeholders, the company announced in a statement.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. Mission-critical systems company Picogrid recently supported U.S. Army testing efforts at the National Training Center (NTC -- Fort Irwin, California) in the area of counter-uncrewed aerial system (C-UAS) defense, as the Army seeks to modernize its UAS efforts.

CHICAGO. Wireless communications provider Silvus Technologies announced the launch of the StreamCaster MINI 5200 (SM5200), what the company calls its smallest, fully-featured mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio that is designed to equip ground forces with next-generation mesh networking to securely share voice, video, and data without the need to set up dedicated infrastructure.

REDMOND, Wash. Artificial intelligence (AI) platform provider AIM announced the award of $4.9 million in contracts with the U.S. Air Force for remote base and airfield construction and repair, under which the AIM platform enables the fully autonomous operations needed for rapid airfield damage recovery (RADR) operations.

PASCAGOULA, Miss. The HII Ingalls Shipbuilding division reports successful conclusion of builder’s sea trials for USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) -- the lead ship of the Zumwalt-class U.S. Navy destroyers -- during which the Ingalls and Navy team conducted a comprehensive series of at-sea tests following an extensive modernization availability as the Navy’s first Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) platform. 

ALPHARETTA, Ga. Mission systems provider Spectra Defense Technologies announced that it recently achieved Final Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 (C3PAO) for all locations after it underwent an independent assessment.

RESTON, Va. Critical-technology provider V2X, Inc. was awarded a spot on the massive (as much as $151 billion) contract under the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract vehicle, known colloquially as "Golden Dome." 

ARLINGTON, Va. Following 20 years of high-level innovation and testing with U.S. Army and Marine Corps partners, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge -- a first-of-its-kind race to foster the development of self-driving ground vehicles -- is nearing its conclusion as the Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program gets ready to wrap up.

Throughout 2025, Military Embedded Systems readers gravitated toward coverage that reflected how quickly the character of modern warfare is changing -- particularly at the intersection of autonomy, artificial intelligence, open architectures, and attritable platforms. The year’s most-read stories highlighted not only major procurement actions and operational revelations, but also deeper architectural and systems-level shifts shaping how embedded technologies are fielded and sustained.

CHINA LAKE, California. Lockheed Martin conducted a demonstration of a 90-degree vertical launch of a Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) from its JAGM Quad Launcher (JQL) at China Lake, California, the company announced in a statement.

SAN DIEGO. Long-endurance autonomous surface vessel (ASV) developer Seasats announced its selection by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to receive a $24 million contract under the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program.

SAN DIEGO, California. BAE Systems won a $62 million U.S. Navy contract to establish a service depot capability at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest to support the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye AN/APX-122A Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) interrogator system, the company announced in a statement.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Abaco Systems introduced the SBC3518, what it terms a rugged, SOSA aligned 3U VPX single-board computer built on Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 processors (formerly Panther Lake) that is intended for use in extremely demanding defense, aerospace, and commercial applications. 

WINDSOR, Colo. Slingshot Aerospace reports it won a $27 million contract with the U.S. Space Force to modernize its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven scenario training environment activities.

SAN DIEGO, California. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and the U.S. Navy conducted a flight test to evaluate an expanded Sonobuoy Dispensing System (SDS) for the MQ-9B SeaGuardian uncrewed aerial system (UAS), the company announced in a statement.