Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Thales RapidRanger – a modular integrated mobile weapon system – firing StarStreak On Ukraine’s front lines, a small robot trawls through the dark, laden with supplies. Against long odds, this Uncrewed Ground Vehicle delivers a lifeline to the warfighter who depends on it. Whether platforms can go the distance and deliver the required effect is increasingly defined by the mission systems they’re equipped with – the sensor suites, autonomy modules and C4ISR capabilities that turn a technological edge into an advantage. As Human Autonomy Teams go, this serves as just one discrete example among many. Platforms, of course, predominate. However,…

Justin Gaethje got some help from an unusual source for his most recent UFC fight: ChatGPT. Gaethje was back in action in the main event of UFC 324 last weekend. His opponent was England’s Paddy Pimblett, with the promotion’s interim lightweight belt on the line. He won the fight by decision. Ahead of the fight, Gaethje prepared with many elite training partners. However, he also got a few last-minute pointers from popular AI tool ChatGPT. Apparently, the AI seemed to know who he was, and was happy to help his cause. He explained how he incorporated ChatGPT into his training…

Anthropic’s Claude machine learning model has boldly planned what no Claude has planned before – a path across Mars for NASA’s Perseverance rover. Perseverance traveled about 400 meters on the Martian surface last month based on an AI-generated path. It did so with the blessing of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who decided to delegate the meticulous work of route planning to Anthropic’s AI model. As Anthropic explains in its writeup of the milestone, the surface of Mars can be treacherous for rovers. No one wants to be responsible for getting pricey space kit stuck in the sand,…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org The Air Force Research Laboratory is offering free licenses for dozens of its patents, including some for secure microchips, 3D-printable “energetic compounds” for use as propellants or explosives, and powerful magnets that are less reliant on rare earth metals. The Defense Department-wide “patent holiday” aims to encourage companies, especially startups and non-traditional defense suppliers, to leverage tax-payer funded research and turn it into useful products for warfighters. Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary…

Rheinmetall has signed a new multi-year framework contract with the Dutch armed forces for the production of hand grenades. Referring to previous framework contracts including 155 mm artillery and 40 mm ammunition, this latest agreement covers the delivery of approximately 15 different types of hand grenades from various Rheinmetall production sites across Germany and Europe. The contract was signed for an initial term of five years, with the option of extending it for a further two years, and has a value within a double-digit million-euro range. This will enable the Dutch Army to procure different types of hand grenades flexibly…

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Cyber Command and NSA told lawmakers Thursday that he supports the use of a contentious foreign spying power, arguing his experience consuming intelligence gathered through the statute is “indispensable” and critical for national security.The law, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, permits U.S. spy agencies to gather communications of foreigners located abroad without obtaining a court warrant. Critics argue that the collection method, which can inadvertently gather the communications of U.S. persons, effectively bypasses Fourth Amendment safeguards.Though the law was reauthorized two years ago under then President Joe Biden, it is set…

Alexander Hernandez’s career is potentially in jeopardy.This past Saturday at UFC 324, Hernandez saw a scheduled bout against Michael Johnson removed from the card and UFC CEO Dana White later admitted was due to betting irregularities. Specifically, the line moved dramatically in favor of Johnson just hours before the fight was set to take place.“That’s what it is. Happened again,” White told reporters at the UFC 324 post-fight press conference. “We got called from the gaming integrity service, and I said I’m not doing this shit again. We pulled the fight.”One week later, Hernandez issued a statement on Instagram addressing…

The Norwegian government has approved the procurement of two additional Type 212CD submarines. With the official signing of the contract, TKMS has received a comprehensive order extension in the ongoing 212CD program – one of the largest orders in the company’s history. This increases the number of boats planned for the Royal Norwegian Navy from four to a total of six. TKMS press release CEO Oliver Burkhard emphasizes the importance of the German-Norwegian submarine program and the Norwegian order extension: “With this strategically important and now growing project, we are making a decisive contribution to strengthening Europe’s defense capabilities and…

Introduction Think you know History from your favorite games? Think again. From “medieval sieges rained oil on attackers” to exploding walls and useless bayonets, video games repeat myths that make battles look simpler and cooler than they really were. Let’s debunk the top 10 historical myths games keep getting wrong. I have to admit that I was actually extremely surprised by how well my two previous articles (read the first one here and the second here, if you missed them!) about tackling historical myths videogames keep perpetuating over and over again, so I have decided to give this one another…

Combating fraud in government programs has been a talking point for the White House since the start of the second Trump administration, most recently with a focus on an ongoing social services fraud scandal in Minnesota. But experts say that the administration is making the problem worse, not better, by making false claims, dismantling the government’s watchdogs, using fraud as a pretext for political goals and more.’The specter of a politicized inspector general community’Days after taking office in 2025, Trump broke norms — and law, according to a federal judge — by dismissing nearly 20 inspectors general, whose very jobs are to combat…