DEFENSE PULSE Weekly \\ 0040

The Pentagon's research chief Emil Michael slashed the military's critical technology list from 14 to six, arguing "14 priorities means no priorities at all." The new focus: applied AI, biomanufacturing, contested logistics, quantum and battlefield information dominance, scaled directed energy, and scaled hypersonics. Out: 5G wireless, advanced materials, microelectronics as standalone categories, human-machine interfaces, and integrated sensing, among others demoted from top-tier status.

Michael called it a "decisive shift" designed to deliver "results in the now, not in 15 years." The move reverses expansions under previous administrations (11 under Griffin, 14 under Shyu) and may come with budget authority changes, giving principal directors direct control over funding instead of roadmaps without money. Former Pentagon officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine the narrower list is overdue, noting some previous entries like 5G were "technology hobby horses" while others like microelectronics are enablers that don't require constant top-level attention. Michael's bet: concentrating resources on six imperatives will move faster than adversaries spreading across a dozen competing efforts.

\\ Air & Space Forces Magazine

SandboxAQ secured a Defense Innovation Unit contract to test its AQNav magnetic navigation software across multiple aircraft, building on C-17 trials from 2023. The breakthrough: a new method (published in Navigation journal) to compute error bounds for quantum magnetic sensors, solving the "cloudy positioning" problem where performance varies wildly by location, moving magnetic nav from scripted lab conditions toward a viable GPS backup, though years away from deployment on low-cost attack drones.

Germany unveiled its first national space security strategy backed by €35B over five years, pivoting from traditional anti-weaponization stance to pursuing offensive counterspace weapons including deep precision strike, hypersonic capabilities, and "reusable spaceplanes to inspect and effect an adversary's systems." The 10-priority plan aims to reduce dependence on "non-European actors" (targeting U.S. reliance) while positioning Berlin to drive European space defense policy.

The 2025 Ryder Cup served as a real-world stress test for AI-ready networking, with HPE deploying 650 access points and 67 cameras feeding a live operational dashboard for tournament staff managing 240k spectators. HPE's CTO argues networking is AI's missing infrastructure layer—standard enterprise networks tolerate latency, but AI workloads require GPU-to-GPU data movement at "supercomputer-like precision.

Rolls-Royce LibertyWorks delivered an AC-130W infrared suppression system in months (not years) as its rapid-prototyping model addresses Ukraine's lesson: adaptation speed matters as much as capability. Senior VP John Kusnierek argues the defense industry faces its most consequential period since WWII, with miniaturized electronics enabling smaller platforms (and engines) to handle missions once requiring bombers, while hypersonics, quantum sensing, and AI integration demand test infrastructure the U.S. still lacks at scale.

Lockheed Martin's Sniper NTP adds a Hybrid Base Station to its proven targeting pod turning 4th-gen fighters into airborne edge-computing nodes that bridge F-35 stealth communications. The plug-and-play upgrade enables F-35s to pass precise targeting coordinates via MADL to F-16s at "5G+ speeds" without compromising stealth, allowing legacy aircraft to engage with long-range weapons based on 5th-gen sensor data.

The Army's Janus Program released its first solicitation seeking commercial microreactors (kilowatt to 20 megawatts-electric, max 20% U-235 enrichment) for nine domestic bases. DIU will award multiple vendors to build "first of a kind" and "second of a kind" prototypes, driven by Army Secretary Driscoll's warning that Indo-Pacific conflict will demand unprecedented power access, positioning microreactors as the foundation for energy independence at forward installations.

KNDS unveiled the Leopard 2A8 MBT and upgraded PzH 2000 for Germany and Norway, marking the first public debut of Trophy Active Protection System integration on European tanks. The 2A8 positioned as the continent's core MBT platform for the next decade.