J.D. Simkins
Executive Editor
J.D. Simkins is Editor-in-Chief of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
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All Stories By J.D.
US Navy taps Gecko Robotics to help remedy maintenance headaches
Gecko deploys AI and robotics on 18 ships assigned to the Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet
Air Force unit executes test of Anduril’s semiautonomous combat drone
Airmen operated Auduril's YFQ-44A jet-powered combat drone, which could someday fly alongside piloted fighters.
Dutch broadcaster tracks carrier-group frigate with Bluetooth gadget
The MoD has made adjustments in response to the reported incident, including no longer allowing greeting cards with batteries to be sent.
Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon’s growing reliance on SpaceX
Last August, a global outage across Elon Musk’s satellite network left U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessels bobbing off California, halting operations.
EU pumps over $1 billion into defense R&D, centered around Ukraine war lessons
The choice of funded projects marks a shift to 21st-century warfare, with loitering munitions and affordable mass drone production high on the agenda.
France readies AI-powered combat data-management similar to US ‘Maven’
The system could be available within a few months, and available for exercises in September 2027, a top general said, declining to provide specifics.
US Air Force debuts operational AI wargame system
WarMatrix is an AI-powered system meant to keep human judgement central to wargaming and was marked operational during an event in late March.
AeroVironment launches new multifunctional drone variant
The MAYHEM 10 drone, a part of the Switchblade family, will serve as a multifunctional launch system, capable of deploying from various platforms.
Estonia raids combat-vehicle funds to buy more drones, air defenses
The defense minister said the decision was based on lessons learned from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
US military eyes high-energy ‘laser dome’ for domestic air defense
The U.S. military's pursuit of high-energy laser weapons for American air defense comes amid the expanding threat of low-cost weaponized drones.
