ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

While recognizing that presidential elections can often mean many changes, Army Futures Command's commander said he expects most of the Army’s priorities are likely to stay the same.

“I remain committed, as long as the Army will have me, to maintain that momentum regardless of the upcoming changes with the new administration,” said Gen. Mike Murray, speaking at a Jan. 25 webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Our modernization priorities have remained consistent, and they will remain consistent.”

Army engineers and scientists may be some of the smartest and most experienced people when it comes to requirements for combat vehicles, but they won’t be designing their own. 

Speaking at a Heritage Foundation webinar, "Building Tomorrow’s Army Today: Modernizing with Science, Technology and Engineering,” Maj. Gen. John George of the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command and members of his staff were asked about a short-lived idea for the Army to design its own optionally manned combat vehicle. 

From artificial intelligence to robotics, the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command is busy turning science fiction into soldiers’ future capabilities, according to its commanding general.

Through Team Ignite, a collaborative effort with Army Futures Command’s Futures and Concepts Center, the command is helping shape concepts and capabilities for the future battlefield.

The Army’s plan to modernize close-combat training hinges on a dynamic virtual training environment that is interoperable, realistic and scalable across all domains.

It also must have software that is compatible with a common architecture and easily updated.

People are “more important than hardware” as artificial intelligence and machine learning lead the way toward more efficient information operations on the battlefield, according to a top general.

“It's the talented people that we have to help foster,” Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commanding general of U.S. Special Operations Command, said Dec. 7 while speaking with the Hudson Institute. 

To become an “AI-ready workforce,” he said, DoD needs to invest in human capital—from interns to coders and data scientists.

The Army’s speedy efforts to field augmented reality glasses is a prime example of how the military can move quickly on technology if it tries, said Ellen Lord, the defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

A new review by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies says the U.S. Army faces multiple challenges in the next few years. 

To focus on the possibility of so-called “great power” conflicts with China or Russia, the Army needs expensive advanced weapons and other capabilities. It has a day-to-day demand for deployed forces. It also faces difficulties recruiting. The combination of those three dynamics will shape the future as those competing needs are balanced, CSIS says in the Army portion of the larger report, “U.S. Military Forces in FY2021.”  

Preparing to fight in space and cyberspace is a challenge for the U.S. military because there are no lessons learned to be applied to battles in the new domains, according to the authors of a new book on the future of warfare.

Army aviation is on a “fantastic glide slope” as it continues to push ahead to develop next-generation aircraft for the future battlefield, said Maj. Gen. David Francis, commander of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, Alabama.

The aircraft being developed as part of the Future Vertical Lift effort will “inform how we will fight in the future,” Francis said Oct. 15 during a Warriors Corner presentation as part of AUSA Now, the 2020 virtual annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army.

The Army’s modernization efforts have not slowed down in the face of 2020 challenges, said Gen. Mike Murray, commanding general of Army Futures Command, citing as an example the recently completed six-week exercise that’s part of the service’s Project Convergence initiative.