A vial of the Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) COVID-19 vaccine developed by researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Army
2021 Top Ten: Tech
Along with AI and JADC2, the year's top tech stories include the Army's December announcement of a vaccine that covers all possible COVID variants.
Here are some of the top defense-technology stories of 2021:
US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say // Tara Copp: Within weeks, Walter Reed researchers expect to announce that human trials show success against Omicron—and even future strains.
How China Is Challenging US Central Command, Digitally // Patrick Tucker: The Pentagon may have “CENTCOM fatigue,” but Beijing is pushing into the Middle East, warns the command’s communications chief.
How China Steals US Tech to Catch Up in Underwater Warfare // Ma Xiu, Peter W. Singer: From legal filings to a Chinese lab’s website, open source documents provide an illuminating trail.
This Air Force Targeting AI Thought It Had a 90% Success Rate. It Was More Like 25% // Patrick Tucker: Too little of the right kind of data can throw off target algorithms. But try telling the algorithm that.
Air Force Breakthrough Brings Space-Based Solar Power One Step Closer // Patrick Tucker: Tomorrow’s remote military bases could be powered by a light-to-microwave tile that just passed a key test.
Army Bring-Your-Own-Device Experiments Test New Security Concepts // Patrick Tucker: The service is “setting the stage” to try new communications ideas in the Pacific.
What Worked, What Didn't at Army’s Second Connect-Everything Experiment // Patrick Tucker: Drone-shooting helicopters, robot reconnaissance teams, and a lot more people mark Project Convergence’s second year.
An Army Pilot Just Re-Invented Flight Training for the Digital Era // Patrick Tucker: By teaching an AI to read instruments with a camera, you get the best of the human and machine worlds.
Learn to Use Data or Risk Dying in Battle, New Army Project Teaches // Patrick Tucker: Project Ridgway pushes soldiers to use—and even create—the artificial-intelligence tools that will confer military advantage.
Digital Engineering Could Speed Wartime Arms Production // Marcus Weisgerber: It could also allow contractors to build and modernize weapons they did not create.