The U.S. Defense Department's ambitious effort to develop and field a family of multipurpose software-defined radios is beginning to make progress after numerous setbacks. The Joint Tactical Radio System program's goal is to replace the services' myriad radios with equipment designed for joint interoperability. The project is back on track after cost overruns and a lack of oversight in key areas drew government criticism and forced it to undergo a major reorganization in March 2006.

Five Myths of Cyberspace and Cyberpower by Lt. Col. Forrest B. Hare, USAF

A team of engineers, physicists and biologists is seeking to create insect cyborgs—creatures with a mixture of organic and mechanical parts that could be used for military applications. The realization of cyborgs with embedded machine components would provide stealthy robots that use their own muscle actuators, which have been developed over millions of years of evolution.

Scientists Design Sensor-Embedded Insects By Clarence A. Robinson Jr.

A Tough Scorecard for Transformation By Cmdr. Gregory E. Glaros, USN (Ret.)

A few years ago, the U.S. Defense Department stated that transformation is "a process that shapes the changing nature of military competition … through new combinations of concepts, capabilities, people and organizations." It was a good enough start, but if this description is to hold, then what defines the shape of both current and future transformational success? A process without successful execution or quantitative feedback is of little value. Transformation requires more than change for change's sake.

With a flip of a switch, a new tactical communications terminal enables warfighters to choose between troposcatter and satellite communications. This technology could reduce the demand on heavily saturated satellite bandwidth through its use of over-the-horizon radio transmissions to carry voice, data and real-time video imagery.