Author Archive
Patrick Tucker
Technology Editor

Patrick Tucker is technology editor for Defense One. He’s also the author of The Naked Future: What Happens in a World That Anticipates Your Every Move? (Current, 2014). Previously, Tucker was deputy editor for The Futurist for nine years. Tucker has written about emerging technology in Slate, The Sun, MIT Technology Review, Wilson Quarterly, The American Legion Magazine, BBC News Magazine, Utne Reader, and elsewhere.
Cybersecurity
Russia Might Try Reckless Cyber Attacks as Ukraine War Drags On, US Warns
Ground commanders have been unable to capitalize on at least one previous cyber strike.
- By Patrick Tucker
CXO Briefing
More Reality Checks Could Help Keep DOD Programs on Time and Budget, GAO Says
The Pentagon has long espoused “knowledge-based acquisition,” but doesn’t insist on it.
- By Patrick Tucker
CXO Briefing
The Backlash to DHS's Anti-Disinformation Board Shows How US Law Is Falling Behind the Problem
Legal ambiguity may have crippled DHS’s new board from the start.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
As Satellite Images Reshape Conflict, Worries Mount About Keeping Them Safe
Radio data collected from space is the next frontier.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
NGA Will Take Over Pentagon’s Flagship AI Program
Agency also sending new special spy drones to Eastern Europe.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
AI Is Already Learning from Russia’s War in Ukraine, DOD Says
Today’s battlefield data is helping smart machines model the wars of the future.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Lockheed Martin Hopes the US Has Turned the Corner on Hypersonics
March test ‘one of the biggest steps we've seen’ in development of new hypersonic weapons, company officials say.
- By Patrick Tucker
CXO Briefing
Hicks: Today’s Russia Problem Mustn’t Distract from Tomorrow’s China Problem
An increasingly complex security environment is complicating the Pentagon’s efforts to ease tech firms’ frustrations.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
New Tech Budget Request is the Defense Department’s Largest Ever
Pursuing China, the Pentagon aims to bump spending for artificial intelligence and 5G.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
A Civil War is Brewing In Russian Tech Circles
Russian entrepreneurs and investors who have known each other for years are finding themselves on opposite sides of Putin’s war.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Why New Technology Is Making Nuclear Arms Control Harder
The US, China, and Russia are locked in a high-tech race to perfect new nuclear capabilities, rendering some Cold War safeguards obsolete.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
Putin Lost the Digital War Abroad. Will He Lose at Home?
Its diplomatic efforts in tatters, its agencies beset by cyber vigilantes, the Russian government is still choking off the information that fuels its homegrown protest movement.
- By Patrick Tucker
CXO Briefing
Moscow Retaliates as Online Giants Take Steps to Stem Disinformation
As Kremlin limits access to Twitter and Facebook, Western observers say the tech companies' moves are years late.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
More Cyber Attacks Disable Ukrainian Websites
Wednesday’s denial-of-service attacks on government, financial sites resemble earlier ones attributed to Russia.
- By Patrick Tucker
CXO Briefing
Drones Shooting Microwave Rays Could Be the Drone Killers of Tomorrow
Moving away from vacuum tubes is making microwave weapons smaller and smarter.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Mike Bloomberg Named Chair of Defense Innovation Board
The former New York City mayor and billionaire replaces Mark Sirangelo.
- By Patrick Tucker and Marcus Weisgerber
Emerging Tech
Autonomous Black Hawk Tests Will Pave the Way For Future Unmanned Missions
Software once designed to be a digital co-pilot is taking the wheel.
- By Patrick Tucker
CXO Briefing
Impressed by 2022’s Record Research Budget? Wait ‘Til Next Year, DOD Undersecretary Says
Heidi Shyu says lawmakers are eager to fund Pentagon’s tech priorities.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Air Force Breakthrough Brings Space-Based Solar Power One Step Closer
Tomorrow’s remote military bases could be powered by a light-to-microwave tile that just passed a key test.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Army Bring-Your-Own-Device Experiments Test New Security Concepts
The service is “setting the stage” to try new communications ideas in the Pacific.
- By Patrick Tucker