March 11, 2026

Precision in Words, Precision in Warfare: Terminology and Control in Military Discourse on Unmanned Systems

Unmanned vehicular systems (UVS) spanning aerial, maritime, terrestrial, and sub-surface domains have become integral to intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), logistics, strike operations, and electronic warfare. Yet despite the increasing ubiquity and sophistication of these technologies, discourse surrounding their capabilities can be undermined by imprecise terminology that conflates the terms automatic, remote, and autonomous in policy, technical, operational, strategic and policy briefings and planning.

March 4, 2026

Neuromodulating Mammals for Military Operations: Ethical Responsibility and Governance in Security Domains

Research into consideration and possible utility of employing marine mammals in military support operations is nothing new. During the Cold War, the United States (U.S.) and Soviet Union employed dolphins and sea lions for detection, retrieval, and harbor defense. Those programs operated within defined operational parameters and structured oversight. However, recent reports alleging that Russia is employing advanced neurotechnologies to modulate and direct the behavior of orcas for military purposes, if validated, represent an ethical inflection point.

Feb. 24, 2026

Laser-focusing Defense Capabilities

Contemporary warfighting is undergoing rapid and profound transformation. As noted in prior analyses of disruptive technologies and future warfare, the convergence of precision guidance, hypersonic kinematics, distributed sensors, and iteratively autonomous machine systems has altered the character of conflict in both the tempo and geometry of engagement(s).

Feb. 17, 2026

The Recent Rash of Biotechnology Risks: A Call to Fortify Force Capability

The tools of modern biology such as state-of-the-art gene editing, modular DNA assembly, cell-free systems, benchtop automation, and AI-enabled formulation have distributed bioweapon capability beyond the skillcraft of traditional state laboratories. Although specialized methods and equipment are required for bioagent manufacture, the relative ease of acquiring and using these means is such that more actors can gain access to such agents and can do so without the need for bespoke facilities.

Feb. 10, 2026

Decision-Based Artificial Intelligence and the Strategic Reordering of Military Power

The public acknowledgement of the increasing use of decision-based artificial intelligence (AI) in U.S. defense provides a backdrop to a structural reordering of how military missions will be generated, exercised, and contested.

Feb. 4, 2026

Quantum Technologies, Part Two: Recognizing Risks and Threats to National Security and Defense

Quantum science and technologies, while nascent, are being leveraged within and across a variety of military applications to fortify extant capabilities, and forge others anew, an example of which being the newly announced Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance (Q-BID) Critical Technology Area.

Jan. 27, 2026

Quantum Technologies: Focusing a Bit Upon Realities

Quantum technologies are often discussed in terms of being “revolutionary.” In the long term, this may likely be true, but at present, at least in military contexts, perhaps a more useful framing is to ask: in what domains and ways do quantum capabilities demonstrably outperform contemporary classical approaches; where are such technologies still insufficiently mature in readiness and operational feasibility; and what effects do such technologies exert on force design, intelligence tradecraft, and risks to national security?

Jan. 20, 2026

Artificial Intelligence and a Reconfiguration of Military Power

Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael has emphasized that the DoW has historically under-deployed artificial intelligence (AI) and that the current moment demands rapid, enterprise-wide integration of AI capabilities across the DoW workforce to better support both efficiency and warfighting functions.

Jan. 13, 2026

Fortifying Technologic Innovation in National Defense: Strategic Security Imperatives for Research and Acquisition

The recently announced Fundamental Research Security Initiatives and Implementation Memorandum, intended to strengthen protections for Department of War (DoW)-funded research, represents a crucial evolution in how the United States (U.S.) secures innovation enterprise within the defense industrial base (DIB). This initiative affirms that security and innovation are equal, co-foundational components of national defense and activities of the DIB.

Jan. 6, 2026

Cognitive Warfare 2026: NATO’s Chief Scientist Report as Sentinel Call for Operational Readiness

The recently released NATO Chief Scientist’s 2025 Report on Cognitive Warfare provides a timely acknowledgment of a strategic reality that contemporary conflict is increasingly behavior-centric, and the decisive terrain is often not geographic but how individuals and groups perceive, interpret, decide, and act.