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Air Force Research Laboratory

Air Force Officials Say They’re Poised to Solve the Longstanding ‘Valley of Death’

Aug. 28, 2025 | By Shaun Waterman
The Air Force is finally poised to deal with the “Valley of Death” problem—the gulf between the invention of an innovative new technology and its deployment at scale to warfighters— leaders of the department’s science and technology enterprise told defense industry executives Aug 27. 

New Vulcan Rocket to Launch With Experimental Satellite That Could Boost Future GPS

Aug. 11, 2025 | By Greg Hadley
The Space Force hopes to celebrate a pair of major milestones with a single mission Aug. 12: its first launch with the new Vulcan Centaur rocket, and the first launch of an experimental navigation satellite in nearly 50 years. 

Lockheed Reveals Second Low-Cost Cruise Missile ‘Truck’ and Successful Flight Tests  

July 16, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak
Lockheed Martin has revealed a second version of its Common Multi-Mission Truck vehicle, and both types have recently been tested successfully, the company said.

Air Force Fighters Control Semi-Autonomous Drones in ‘Crucial’ Test

July 7, 2025 | By Chris Gordon
The U.S. Air Force recently took a significant step in its push to integrate crewed fighters with semi-autonomous drones, the service says. Pilots of an Air Force F-16C and an F-15E each controlled two XQ-58A Valkyrie drones in an “air combat training scenario,” the Air Force ...

General Atomics Designing Long-Range Stealth ‘GHOST’ Recon Drone

May 28, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force has awarded General Atomics a $99.3 million contract for a stealthy, ultra-long-range surveillance aircraft design to be ready by 2028. The plane, nicknamed "GHOST," would also have a strike mission.

Can Spacecraft Sweat? New Tech Could Make Them Reusable

May 21, 2025 | By Shaun Waterman
Building spacecraft that can survive the heat of reentry by "sweating" a thermally protective layer of gas has been a dream of aerospace engineers for 50 years. Now an Air Force Research Laboratory grant aims to make that a reality.

Researchers: US Bombs May One Day Use Chinese GPS Signals

March 4, 2025 | By Shaun Waterman
One day, U.S. military personnel might target smart weapons using location data from Chinese or Russian versions of GPS, researchers from the Air Force and Space Force said at the AFA Warfare Symposium on March 4. 

USSF Paused AI Adoption in ’23; Now It’s Looking to Automate Ops

Feb. 26, 2025 | By Greg Hadley
Less than 18 months after telling Guardians to quit using ChatGPT and other emerging artificial intelligence tools while the service examined the risks and opportunities they posed, a Space Force leader said Feb. 26 the service has “done so much” to explore and expand AI ...

Money-Saving Microvanes Inch Closer to Fleetwide C-17 Use

Jan. 22, 2025 | By David Roza
New devices meant to save money spent on gas by reducing aerodynamic drag are inching closer to fleetwide adoption for the Air Force’s 222 C-17 transport jets.

Success With CCA Points Way to Greater Innovation, Board Says

Jan. 15, 2025 | By Greg Hadley and Tobias Naegele
The Defense Innovation Board adopted a series of new recommendations and praised the Air Force for its big bets on emerging technology in recent years that seem primed to help new entrants to the defense market bridge the so-called valley of death between initial investment ...

New Fighter Drones Will Go on Display at AFA Conference

Sept. 10, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force will display full-scale models of the two competitors for Increment 1 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program at next week's AFA Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Air Traffic Control For Drones? Air Force Tests Out New System

July 22, 2024 | By David Roza
The Air Force achieved a milestone in May by testing out a new system for controlling high volumes of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) in military airspace.

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