AI ENABLES NEXT-GEN TERROR RECRUITMENT
The billionaire CEOs of AI companies often talk about the potential coming age of abundance, where AI eases human burdens and enhances productivity. However, the road ahead may be far more turbulent, as malicious uses of AI proliferate. According to Europol, terrorist organizations are now using AI to generate propaganda specifically designed to radicalize children, "combining images and videos of children with extremist messaging, as well as materials offering guidance to radicalize parents on raising future jihadists."" By understanding the mindset of individuals, the AI created content is "carefully stylized to appeal to minors and families that may be susceptible to extremist manipulation." In response, Europol, with the support of 16 countries (including Germany, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom), has coordinated a Referral Action Day (RAD) on minor exploitation and radicalism online during which they removed over 2,000 websites. (Cybernews, June 4, 2025)
X-37B MISSION TESTS LASER COMMS AND GPS-FREE NAVIGATION
Few details are ever shared about the missions of the U.S. Space Force's secretive X-37B space plane. The clandestine orbital test vehicle is on its eighth mission, and it is known for testing experimental technologies. USSF Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman, discussed how a new onboard laser communications package "will contribute to more efficient and secure satellite communications in the future. The shorter wavelength of infrared light allows more data to be sent with each transmission." In addition to upgrading communications, Gen. Saltzman detailed that "we're also demoing the world's highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever used in space. Bottom line: testing this tech will be helpful for navigation in contested environments where GPS may be degraded or denied." Operating without the availability of GPS will be increasingly important as Space Force missions expand further into Cislunar space and as adversaries plan to target GPS systems in future conflicts. (Defense Scoop, July 28, 2025)
PENTAGON TESTS NEXT-GENERATION GPS SATELLITE
GPS satellite navigation is essential for both the military and civilian sectors, and as time passes, the constellation will need to modernize and innovate. In a step toward advancing future systems, the Pentagon has launched the Navigation Technology Satellite-3, its first experimental navigation satellite in nearly 50 years. The Department of War is testing several concepts including new anti-spoofing signals, a steerable antenna to send signals to ground forces in high-jamming areas, and receivers to help the satellite operate without instructions from ground controllers—technologies that could shape future military GPS programs. According to Joanna Hicks, a senior engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, "one of the things that NTS-3 is testing... is the multi-orbit constellation concept" – that is, receiving signals simultaneously from different satellite orbital attitudes. Moreover, a guiding principle of the $250 million project was to design a system that could be reprogrammed from the ground, "so we don't have to have everything planned out before we go on orbit and before we see what the threats are," Hicks stated. (Defense One, August 12, 2025)
AI YOU CAN TRUST
On the battlefield, commanders are required to make split second decisions that can impact thousands of lives. Artificial intelligence promises to accelerate decision-making by rapidly analyzing vast amounts of operational data, but its tendency to hallucinate has limited trust in mission-critical environments. Data², a technology start-up founded by a group of retired U.S. military service members, is attempting to resolve this issue by building knowledge graph technology into existing AI models. According to former airman and Data² CEO Jon Brewton, this technology ensures that "every AI-generated answer is anchored in verifiable, traceable source data with citations down to the data record level." In the long-term, Brewton is hopeful that Data² will provide the steppingstones "to make AI trustworthy for governments, so that they can use it in... mission-critical areas, and so that people and machines can really start to make better decisions together." (Defense Scoop, June 25, 2025)
AGROTERROR THREAT ENTERS U.S. LAB
Biological threats are not just science fiction hype, as a recent criminal case highlights. In June, two Chinese nationals, Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were accused of smuggling a fungus into the U.S. that officials describe as a "dangerous biological pathogen." The fungus, usarium graminearum, causes blight in wheat, barley, maize and rice and, according to authorities is responsible for "billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year." Its toxins also "cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock" if ingested. Mr. Liu, who researches this pathogen at a Chinese university, admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport to study and nurse it at a University of Michigan laboratory that his girlfriend worked at. Agroterrorism, described by U.S. Attorney Jerome F Gorgon Jr. as one of the "gravest national security concerns," represents a potentially disruptive threat capable of inflicting economic damage, undermining food security, and targeting critical national infrastructure. (BBC, June 4, 2025)