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.

The U.S. Air Force is building a robust cyberwar capability as part of a revised mission that adds cyberspace to the service's fighting domains of air and space. As part of this effort, the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force established a Cyberspace Task Force to help frame the service's direction in this third domain. The task force is working to harness capabilities, take stock of gaps and vulnerabilities, and increase awareness about cyberspace.

The U.S. military is moving closer to full implementation of a system that will transform how intelligence is collected and disseminated. By making raw and complete material available to analysts and others worldwide, the technology will blur the line dividing operations and intelligence.

The U.S. joint organization baptized by fire in Persian Gulf operations is extending its innate flexibility to reserve warfighters working at the tip of the spear. The Standing Joint Force Headquarters is recruiting officer reservists willing to deploy to disaster hot spots with only 72 hours notice. In return, these new members augmenting rapid response teams will enjoy more predictability in their duty schedule. According to U.S. Joint Forces Command leaders, the innovative approach is a win-win proposition: The military leverages the expertise found in the civilian sector, and reservists can balance their military, business and personal lives better.

The lines between intelligence, operations and planning continue to blur as the U.S. military expands its efforts to integrate the three disciplines. By combining personnel from the three fields within joint centers at the national, command and tactical levels, the U.S. Defense Department aims to transform how missions are undertaken. Appropriately, the command designated for joint operations is leading an effort to help other commands consolidate their vital functions in these centers.

The transformation fever that is igniting innovation throughout the services is wicking its way up to the joint military leadership. Stoking the fires is the innovative Joint Net-Centric Operations Campaign Plan that calls for new ways of connecting the warfighter, leveraging enterprise services, securing the network, accelerating information sharing, synchronizing network capability delivery and managing the enterprise. Firing up these bold initiatives will require changing acquisition processes, fostering not only interoperability but also interdependence and tapping the talents of an Internet generation consumed with the possibilities of the next new capability.