Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, commander of US Central Command, said Tuesday the Defense Department needs to enhance the integration of intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance capabilities between air and ground components in Southwest Asia. As an example, “We support a limited objective experiment to refine the requirement for a manned, armed ISR asset attuned to the unique challenges of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan,” Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on CENTCOM’s posture for Fiscal 2012. Mattis also said the Pentagon should continue investing in ISR technology, infrastructure, architecture, tools, and personnel to build on the gains already achieved in theater. (Mattis’ prepared statement)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week released strategies meant to focus the Pentagon’s “alphabet soup” of innovation organizations and proliferate artificial intelligence—moves that experts say could provide the structure needed to make the military’s efforts to integrate and field new technology more effective.
