Research and development of special projects in areas of operations. These operations support the warfighter in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).  

Electronic and Information Warfare

In commercial applications, unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS; UAV) have safety, security, privacy, and ownership challenges (Rao et al., 2016). Government agencies have enacted regulations that impact hobbyists and enthusiasts. Drone design impacts this active community, from commercial to government, that uses drones for inspecting, imaging, information gathering, and counter-measures (e.g., GPS, M-code; Rui et al., 2022).

Reconnaissance and Aerospace

Light electric vehicle (LEV) technology is viewed as another promising pathway, as is electric vehicle (EV), to decarbonize transport systems further. In one study (Budnitz et al., 2025), based on 50 expert interviews, a novel approach compares multi-modal transportation processes horizontally between cities and vertically within levels of government.  An electric bicycle with multi-modal transportation roles capable of traveling between cities using limited battery power for the competitive cyclist was designed, developed, and produced. 

Cyber Threat Intelligence and Critical Infrastructure Cyber Attacks

Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure can disrupt vital services with the capacity to impact human lives. Some security operations center (SOC) analysts feel overwhelmed by the influx of threat indicators from a growing threat landscape. Timely mitigation makes it challenging to discern which alerts are significant for their organization, from cyber to physical security. In John Boyd's OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) theoretical framework, we examine the relationship between cyber threat intelligence (CTI) and critical infrastructure assets on information technology critical infrastructure attacks (Su, 2024) using automated techniques (e.g., AI, algorithms). 

Telemetry and Imagery

As the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, and cyber assets are used to collect data (e.g., temperature, speed, cyber) increases, the network telemetry (Sivanathan et al., 2020 ) traffic increases. Managing these devices, such as cameras, GPS, and location information, is highly complex, expensive, and challenging.  One of the challenges in analyzing streaming data is selecting the proper machine learning (ML) algorithm (e.g., anomaly detection) to characterize the behavior. 

Fitness and Readiness Relationship

The interaction between machines and humans in a competitive environment requires trust. In the science of autonomous human-machine systems, rational decisions are made in normal environments but not in uncertain dynamic environments (Lawless, 2022). Trusting your gear in dynamic environments impacts human performance along with physical training.     

Cyber and Jamming

As the threat landscape increases, the resilience of computer systems that need protection increases. To test the resilience of computer systems on a drone, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted a successful cyber spoofing attack, resulting in the hijacking of the drone (Rao et al., 2016). This test challenged the navigational systems (e.g., GPS) onboard the mobile aerial platform from jamming attacks to telemetry. 

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cybersecurity

Technology resources can fill the gap as the threat landscape continues to increase. Generative AI has the capability to enhance threat intelligence and cyber security knowledge so organizations can quickly identify threats. Generative AI technology provides decision support systems with the capability to automatically identify threats by malicious actors (Saddi et al., 2024).