BlueHalo experts are looking to the year ahead and offering insights in their fields: Autonomy, Intel, Space, Armed Forces, and Health and Performance Technologies.
Autonomy
Alex Clark, Sr. Director of Advanced Innovations, CUAS and Autonomous Mission Areas
⇢GPS denied operations will be a priority. We have to be able to navigate in featureless terrain in jammed and degraded environments. This is going to require new solutions because current optical terrains following, and SLAM algorithms will not work.
⇢We must prioritize the lack of command and control in autonomy. Future battle space will not give us the constant durable connection and full motion video that is so common now across the industry.
⇢This year we will likely see the industry move toward using Large Language Models to automate tasks like report generation and mission planning. With multiple assets per operator, reporting can overwhelm operators. Automation could be useful and beneficial for report generation and mission planning.
Intel
Brian Morrison, Intel Portfolio President
⇢The early months of 2025 will in large part be about reshaping–and shrinking–the federal workforce. Our customers’ missions, though, are not optional. As the federal workforce constricts, we must be ready to augment and assist in executing those critical missions.
⇢For years, the story in AI/ML has been the advent of LLMs, like ChatGPT. The reality of warfare, though, is that the real promise of AI/ML is in the application of machine learning to enable faster processing and decision making. In 2025, we will see the public discourse around these issues moves beyond ChatGPT.
⇢The last few weeks have shown that the patchwork of regulations around C-UAS defeat is insufficient to allow intelligence, military, and law enforcement agencies to protect the airspace. Technology and service providers should work with urgency to help policymakers address this gap before we see a major drone attack in CONUS.
⇢It is likely that China will take the opportunity of a new administration to test our resolve in the Pacific–whether with intelligence activities, military provocations, or economic activity.
Space
Russ Cooper, Vice President, Advanced Innovations
All of us in this industry will have a sharp focus on our contested space environment where we are increasingly seeing debris and potential nefarious activities. In space, we will be focusing on:
⇢Extensive communications across a variety of bands and phenomenologies: RF and laser communications.
⇢Space domain awareness, both day and night, with accuracies that enable effectors to accomplish their mission.
⇢AI/ML based space domain awareness. There is a need to reduce cognitive load of operators and track more objects, smaller objects, with faster update rates.
⇢Autonomous satellites that work in concert, for things such as sparce arrays, RPO, etc.
Armed Forces
Johnathan Jones, SVP of Joint Solutions. Air Force Business Unit
⇢All branches will be prioritizing base defense in 2025 – in the homeland and abroad. Bases need a layered approach to countering sUAS to protect our troops. The good news is that BlueHalo has been perfecting this layered approach for many years, and we’re seeing the military embrace our technologies.
⇢The application of Unmanned Systems to combat fundamentally changes the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) loop: there are more UAS than combatants in Ukraine now. Surprise in combat will significantly diminish with the plethora of uncrewed sensors. The way we fight has changed.
⇢The Human/Machine interface will expand beyond any architecture we have today. It could enable optimized decisions, reduce human error, and operate in environments previously not possible.
Health and Performance Technologies
Stephaney Shanks, Ph.D. VP, Health and Performance Technologies Division
⇢Health and performance technologies trends for 2025 focus on innovation, personalized care, and the integration of advanced technologies to improve outcomes.
⇢AI continues to enhance diagnostics, personalize care, and streamline administrative tasks with biotechnology advancements enabling personalized therapies.
⇢Wearable devices that integrate environmental sensors and data analytics will enable comprehensive health monitoring anywhere.
⇢The increasing digitization of health records make cybersecurity and interoperability critical.