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.
Emerging Tech
Key Elements Expected This Year for Pentagon’s Link-Everything Effort
A second NORTHCOM experiment aims to prove out various concepts for JADC2.
- By Patrick Tucker
Ideas
How China’s Digital Silk Road Is Leading Countries Away from the United States
Beijing is using technology products, markets, and training to secure influence with U.S. security partners, a IISS report finds.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Military Eyes AI, Cloud Computing in Space in a Decade
Physics keeps the Pentagon from orbiting a computer powerful enough for machine learning. So they’re building a network in space.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
It's Harder to Boot Right-Wing Extremists from Social Media Than ISIS
There are various reasons why. But studies suggest it’s still worth the effort.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
Amid Massive Hack, Lawmakers Urge Trump to Sign Defense Bill with New Cybersecurity Legislation
As the government scrambles to understand the widening compromise, legislation to shore up the nation’s cyber defenses sits unsigned on the President’s desk.
- By Patrick Tucker
CIO Briefing
U.S. Military Starts Vaccinating Troops, Behind Russia and China
DOD has picked 16 sites for a “controlled pilot” COVID vaccination program.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
The Future of Flight Training Is a Gamer Headset That Watches You Play
Google and other companies are helping design a smarter, cheaper way to produce aviators.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
Why Data Privacy Is Crucial to Fighting Disinformation
Information collected as we go about our daily lives can be weaponized into influence operations that are harder to detect.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
Soldiers Don’t Trust Robot Battle Buddies. Can Virtual Training Fix That?
Allowing soldiers to train their robot wingmen in game environments could be the key to human-machine teaming.
- By Patrick Tucker
CIO Briefing
New Pentagon AI Chief: More Computers Would Bring Military AI Along Faster
Groundbreaking tools are around the corner, 3-star general says. The limiting factor is lack of computing power to grind through giant Pentagon datasets.
- By Patrick Tucker
CIO Briefing
Pentagon Risks ‘Paralyzing Ourselves’ as Tech Priorities Keep Shifting
That’s what the outgoing HASC ranking member says, and he’s not alone.
- By Patrick Tucker
CIO Briefing
CISA Director Fired After Challenging President's Baseless Election Claims
After helping to keep the election secure from hackers, the CISA director turned to refuting the baseless claims of the president.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
Myths About Vote Tampering Could Persist For Years, Say Experts
The huge follower counts of dedicated misinformers appear to outweigh efforts by journalists, government officials, and the social media platforms themselves.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
A Big 2020 Election Hack Never Came. Here’s Why
America’s cyber defenders are getting more proactive — and more chatty.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
U.S. Elections Are Safer from Foreign Interference, But Gaps Remain
Four years after a big wake-up call, federal, state, and local governments are working harder and more closely to ward off threats.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
What the Army's Next App Reveals About Defense Innovation
A major wins an innovation award by proposing to bring hotel-style booking to training ranges.
- By Patrick Tucker
Cybersecurity
Iran Using Voter Data to Spoof Floridians, Warn U.S. Intelligence Leaders
Voting systems remain secure but Russia and Iran have obtained voter data, warn DNI Ratcliffe and FBI Director Wray.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
DOD Pours Millions of Dollars into Print-on-Demand Drugs
Four years after DARPA sought a better way to bring medicine to the battlefield, the technology may assuage broader concerns about foreign supply chains.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
The Military’s Latest Wearables Can Detect Illness Two Days Before You Get Sick
Some 400 troops are testing the devices, trained on nearly a quarter million cases to detect COVID and a whole lot more.
- By Patrick Tucker
Emerging Tech
The Air Force’s ‘Connect Everything’ Project Just Had a Big Success
The simulated cruise missile intercept harnessed widely dispersed systems — all supervised by tablets in a flight-line hangar.
- By Patrick Tucker