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Gathered in a temporary maritime operations center in Arlington, Virginia, military, industry and political leaders watched multiple satellite images flash onto large monitor screens. These images showed three types of drug-running vessels hundreds of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean — a small, fast, highly maneuverable boat capable of transferring illicit cargo between ships on the high seas; a support ship with a crane for loading and unloading contraband; and a tugboat serving as the recipient ship for smuggling cargo into the U.S. The scenario was part of a larger July 2023 experimentation event designed to emulate drug-smuggling activities in the maritime domain as well as efforts to deter the flow of such contraband. Called the SCOUT Main Experimentation Event, the two-week exercise involved partners such as the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South (JIATF-S), U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and numerous naval warfare centers and industry and academic partners. Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus, who was one of several ONR leaders at the maritime operations center, said, “I’m truly impressed by the innovation, teaming and analytic rigor you’ve all brought to this exercise. Your pioneering approach is leading the way for us to learn faster with new partners to tackle the hardest operational challenges.”

Stovepipes—old "legacy" software you've bought and can't easily replace—that can't work together are one of the biggest obstacles to getting the most out of information technology. This is especially true in Naval operations. Sailors and Marines use many systems that have been acquired over the...

Researchers at Georgia Tech have created an artificial intelligence software program to teach robots to read stories, learn acceptable behavior and understand successful ways to conduct themselves in diverse social situations.

College students from around the world will have a hand in shaping the future of ocean robotics as they compete in the first Maritime RobotX Challenge, which kicks off this week in Singapore.

The Navy’s chief of naval research, Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, met this week with leaders from U.S. and Canadian government agencies to address research efforts in the Arctic, in response to dramatic and accelerating changes in summer sea ice coverage.

An Underwater Drone That Works With Men and Dolphins

School may be out for summer, but an opportunity to gain valuable, professional experience in their field of study has just begun for students enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Institutions’ (HBCU/MIs’). Anthony Smith, director, Department of Navy's (DoN) HBCU/MI Program, said there are eight different internships with the addition of a new one this year. “We are embarking on a new student internship program with the Navy Facilities Command (NAVFAC),” he said. “That’s a big deal because that’s focused on students in engineering but more along the lines of civil engineering and construction technology – and that’s a big one that we have not had before. So, that’s exciting for us.” Education and outreach from the DoN includes college internships, graduate fellowships, science fairs and competitions, and curriculum enrichment programs for students of all ages. The HBCU/MI program aims to increase participation from under-represented educational institutions for research, development, test and evaluation programs.

The Office of Naval Research developed the Universal Gateway, which collapses the 30 connections on any Navy destroyer, cruiser or carrier between the combat systems (weapons and sensors) and command and control systems into a single portal, rapidly automating data integration, enhancing information assurance and reducing manpower workloads and costs.

ONR today launched a collaborative initiative with university researchers focused on synthetic, or engineered, cells—part of a larger effort to use the smallest units of life to help Sailors and Marines execute their missions.

With support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Dr. Binoy Ravindran, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech, has designed a system that could revolutionize how military and commercial computing systems perform.