The U.S. Army paired manned platforms with robotic systems on the ground as part of the manned-unmanned teaming demonstration held Tuesday at Fort Benning in Georgia, Defense News reported Friday.

The service branch’s Maneuver Center of Excellence combined a semiautonomous MRZR combat vehicle with an unmanned Hoverfly quadcopter to carry out reconnaissance operations as part of the exercise’s first scenario.

The Army also used a robotic wingman with a long range advance scout surveillance system – LRAS3 – to lead a group of crewed Humvees to detect positions of adversaries as well as a manned M113 armored personnel carrier to field a ground-based robot – Packbot – to conduct surveillance operations.

The robotic wingman fired at enemy targets after it received information from the manned Humvee.

The military branch also used the MRZR to perform reconnaissance, an Abrams tank section and a semiautonomous M58 vehicle with a smoke generator called Wolf as part of the Abrams Lethality Enabler demonstration.

The M58 Wolf vehicle works to conceal and allow the tank to move into its position by fielding heavy smoke.

The Army carried out the two-part demonstration in compliance with the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Strategy and Combat Vehicle Modernization Strategy.

Robert Sadowski, robotics chief with the Army’s tank automotive research, development and engineering center, said the service expects to transition the land-based robotic programs to the National Training Center within two to five years.

The Senate Intelligence Committee passed in July a draft bill that would prohibit the creation of a cybersecurity working group between the U.S. and Russia, Nextgov reported Friday.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 would require the Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies to develop within 90 days a plan to safeguard the country’s election systems from Russia’s future cyber interference.

A separate report on election hacking efforts by Russia and other foreign governments should also be submitted within two months, according to the proposed legislation.

The proposed bill would direct the Director of National Intelligence to facilitate sharing of classified cyber threat data with each state’s two election officers with security clearances at the top-secret level and submit an annual report on the federal government’s process used to determine whether to disclose software vulnerabilities.

The measure also calls for DHS to develop a strategic plan within six months for the implementation of bug bounties at federal agencies.

The House passed its version of the bill in July weeks after the House Intelligence Committee cleared the measure.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) has announced that the Defense Department plans to invest in directed energy systems and the investment can help create new jobs in the state.

Heinrich’s office said Wednesday the senator made the announcement during a visit to Boeing‘s facility in Albuquerque, N.M.

On the same day, he also toured a University of New Mexico laboratory focused on directed energy as well as met with university researchers and students who collaborate with the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Earlier this year, Heinrich called on Defense Secretary James Mattis and the Defense Department to allocate funds for the development of modern weapon systems such as directed energy.

“This is an area where New Mexico can make yet another significant contribution to our nation’s defense—and in the process, we can see millions of dollars of investment and many new jobs in our state,” the senator said.