In the defense industry, AI is on the path to becoming a loyal companion to the warfighter and manufacturers alike. As technology progresses, so does the range of defense capabilities that AI could not only supplement but eventually manage.

In support of the Australian Army’s Project Land 400 Phase 2 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions’ Switzerland-based Drive Technology business is supplying its modular Turret Drive Servo System (TDSS) and hand controller technologies to Rheinmetall Landsysteme.

Programs like the National Security Agency’s Commercial Solutions for Classified could be a path to transmit classified information without specialized hardware.

Missile testing programs rely on the telemeter, a costly system that captures flight-test data. Bringing off-the-shelf modular architectures to missile telemeter design lowers costs, enables more tests, and reduces program and schedule risk.

Contested space, where nations compete for military dominance outside Earth’s atmosphere, is driving many military space platforms, but commercial space and small satellites continue to change the way the military suppliers of space electronics approach radiation-hardened component design from testing to deployment.

Prototype designs for the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, one of the U.S. Army’s most important and game-changing initiatives, are fully embracing the open architecture design philosophy for the next-generation helicopters that will replace its fleet of OH58 Kiowa Warrior, AH64 Apache, and UH60 Black Hawk rotorcraft.

Interoperability in communications has long vexed military, public safety and law enforcement organizations.

Situational awareness is a critical capability in the battlefield. Tools and technologies, including real-time sensors, video displays, mission computers, and video-distribution systems, are evolving to bring new advanced solutions to the warfighter.