The U.S. Navy has begun to draft a research and development plan that seeks to build up technology capabilities that the service branch would use in the 2045 battlespace, USNI News reported Wednesday.

Sam LaGrone writes Vice Adm. David Johnson, principal military deputy to the Navy’s chief weapons buyer, said at the AUVSI Unmanned System Defense conference Tuesday the R&D plan is part of the military’s branch efforts to maintain and increase maritime superiority and technological edge over potential adversaries.

He told event attendees that the plan seeks to expedite development of novel technology platforms in six areas that include electromagnetic naval warfare, autonomous systems and materials, LaGrone reports.

The R&D strategy seeks to explore basic principles “like providing stealth and ensuring resilient high bandwidth communications and describing a number critical and specific long-term battlespace capabilities like autonomous, cognitive exploitation and decision support, all-domain energy harvesting, decoys and confusion generation technologies,” Johnson added.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-California) has said the U.S. Air Force should accelerate the development and acquisition of unmanned aerial systems to counter threats posed by hostile actors that use commercial UAS, Air Force Times reported Thursday.

Matthew Schehl writes Hunter asked Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to provide details on the service branch’s efforts to deploy counter-UAS technology following the explosion of a drone that was launched by the Islamic State militant group and killed two coalition troops.

“Given this threat, it is important that we continue prioritizing the development and deployment of counter UAS technology, including directed energy, to supplement advances on kinetic targeting,” Hunter told James in a letter.

“This is especially necessary given the accessibility and affordability of UAS in the commercial marketplace and the relative ease of configuring explosives to unmanned platforms,” he added.

Air Force officials said they will respond directly to Hunter once they officially receive his letter, the report stated.

Gen. John Raymond, former deputy chief of staff for operations at the U.S. Air Force, has succeeded Gen. John Hyten as leader of Air Force Space Command during a ceremony held Tuesday at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein presided over the ceremony and commended Hyten’s vision for the space and cyber domains, the Air Force said Thursday.

“General Hyten is nothing short of a pioneer, much like Hap Arnold, Chuck Horner, and Bernie Schriever – leaders with extraterrestrial vision,” Goldfein said.

Raymond said he will work to Hyten’s vision of advancement in the Air Force’s space and cyber capabilities.

For his most recent role, he oversaw operational policy for air, space and cyber for the Air Force secretary and chief of staff in Washington, D.C.

Raymond is a former commander of the 30th Operations Group at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the 21st Space Wing at Peterson AFB, the 14th Air Force and Joint Functional Component Command for space.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has said she believes the next U.S. administration should facilitate the decision-making process when it comes to the direction of the Defense Department’s investments in the space domain.

James made the remarks when she appeared with Army Secretary Eric Fanning and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus at a Center for a New American Security-hosted panel discussion held Monday in Washington, the Air Force said Wednesday.

“Space is terribly important and we have to make some decisions going forward,” James said.

“Some years ago we thought space was a peaceful domain, today we recognize that it is both contested and congested by lots of satellites, debris and all sorts of things,” she added.

James noted that the military branch has started to hire cyber professionals from the private sector to serve in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve on a part-time basis.

She also cited the need for the Air Force to adapt and innovate in response to emerging security threats such as the threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems, according to the report.

The U.S. Naval Academy has started construction work on a $106 million facility on its campus in Annapolis, Maryland to house classes and research work for students in the field of cybersecurity.

The Navy said Thursday this multi-story academic building will include classrooms, a lecture hall, research labs, a research and testing tank for the engineering and weapons lab and a compartmented intelligence facility space intended to help midshipmen categorize information.

The Center for Cyber Security Studies is part of the academy’s efforts to expand its cybersecurity program, interdisciplinary cyber operations major and mandatory computer network defense courses for midshipmen.

The Navy noted the center will work to deliver real-world training to midshipmen in an effort to prepare them for work against cyber threats.

“This is a significant step in the process of streamlining our cyber education capabilities here at the Naval Academy with the needs of the fleet and Department of Defense,” said Vice Adm. Ted Carter, USNA superintendent.

The center was established as part of the Navy’s efforts to mitigate vulnerabilities, identify intrusions and secure its defense against cyber attacks.

Academy officials, Navy leaders, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Maryland) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland) attended the groundbreaking ceremony.