Senior leaders from each military branch spoke about changing battlefield technology and their service's current transformation efforts during the AI+ Expo in Washington this week.
The recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian air bases are prime examples of how rapidly technology is changing the battlefield, said Army Gen. Randy A. George, Army chief of staff.
"Look at how cheap those systems were compared to what they took out," George said, referring to the relatively inexpensive Ukrainian drones that knocked out a significant number of Russian bombers, June 1, 2025.
To keep up with the changing technological landscape, the Army needs to be more agile in its procurement, he said. "That's a struggle because everybody wants us to buy the same drone for the next 25 years."
Instead, the general noted that the way forward is to use and adapt commercial drones at speed and scale.
The Army employed a similar approach by converting a commercial truck into an infantry squad vehicle. "Our soldiers love that system," he said, adding that they modified it for their needs.
George said the service is also considering off-the-shelf interactive glasses adapted for soldiers to use.
Soldiers are innovative, and they understand technology intuitively, he added. Industry engineers are also inventive, and when they go out in the field with soldiers and observe how they use their equipment, it sparks fresh ideas.
Gen. David W. Allvin, Air Force chief of staff, said in the changing character of warfare, the Air Force brings speed and agility to the fight, not only projecting power overseas but also defending the homeland through two of the three legs of the nuclear triad — strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles — as well as contributions the service will make in building the air defense system known as the Golden Dome.
Allvin said in addition to building the planned F-47 sixth-generation fighter aircraft, the Air Force is planning human-machine teaming using both manned and unmanned aircraft.
"I believe human-machine teaming is a door we need to push through very rapidly. There are opportunities there that we're seeing play out in other parts of industry and other parts of society that we really need to leverage to keep that edge," he said.
He added that assimilating artificial intelligence into areas such as data fusion, predictive maintenance and strategic decision-making are ways the service is experimenting with technology.
"We have to keep our imaginations wide open to understand this is a game-changing technology … when it comes to air dominance, but we can only do that if we don't sort of get trapped by the vestiges of the past," Allvin said.
Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, spoke not only about technological changes on the battlefield but also about changes to the way Marines fight, survive and thrive in contested spaces, known as force design.
To fight the future fight, talent management is essential, Mahoney said.
"Let's make sure we have the right Marines with the right skill sets and keep them around longer," he said, adding that it's important that they engage in realistic and challenging training.
Implementation of force design, he said, involves things like:
- Making the force more distributed.
- Enhancing Marines' ability to maneuver and sustain themselves.
- Having Marine formations broadcast a smaller signature to avoid detection.
- Supplying Marines with longer-range fires, including the ability to hit ships from the shore.
- Providing Marines with better sensing capabilities for situational awareness and targeting.
- Equipping Marines with more autonomous and robotic systems.
Mahoney spoke highly of young Marines today, saying they're what made him stay in the service for 38 years.
"They are motivated. They're resilient. They have surrendered to a life of … honor, courage and commitment," he said.
Vice Adm. James Pitts, deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities, said the Navy's navigation plan includes developing key capabilities, including long-range fires, robotic and autonomous systems, and enablers like live, virtual and constructive training, so sailors can be better trained for a potential high-end fight.
The admiral also emphasized shipbuilding, noting the history of cost overruns and maintenance and modernization backlogs.
"We do need a whole-of-government, whole-of-nation effort in order to revitalize our shipbuilding base," Pitts said.
The service is navigating in the direction of building a hybrid fleet that includes manned and unmanned platforms, he added.
The Navy established its disruptive capabilities office to develop and scale robotic and autonomous systems, along with other technologies, the admiral said, adding that the Navy is also seeking more flexible funding to support these initiatives.
He said the Navy is hoping to use less expensive defensive weapons against things like inexpensive one-way drones. Such weapons could include high-powered lasers and microwaves.
Space Force Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said his service will play a critical role in building the Golden Dome.
Its contribution, he said, includes sensing capability to rapidly identify threats and the ability to quickly move quality data from the collection point to the decision maker for use in targeting information and space-based interceptors.
A lot of research and development work still needs to be done with industry's help, Saltzman said.
"One of our great asymmetric advantages as a country is the tremendous innovative capacity that we see in the commercial sector," he said, adding that the service is bringing in the best and brightest to make an impact.
"We don't want the tremendous skill sets that people are coming into the service with to languish and suffer because they are not working at the leading edge of industry. So, we're trying to send our people back into industry — even if it's just for six, eight months or a year — to maintain that credibility in the industry and then bring that knowledge back into the force," he said.
The Space Force plans to establish a futures command later this year to assess the potential operating environment over the next 12 to 15 years and identify how the U.S. can counter any emerging threats. Saltzman said industry partners will play a significant role in that development.