U.S. unveils AI anti-drone tech and “army Amazon” marketplace for allies

The decision followed a U.S. army hackathon called Operation Jailbreak, where hundreds of engineers used artificial intelligence to integrate multiple weapons systems into a unified network.

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Tolbert said that these marketplaces will help create predictable demand for companies and accelerate the scaling of critical systems.

The U.S. army is expected to announce the initial group of countries joining the marketplace in June. According to the Financial Times, the group includes the UK, Romania, and Poland.

The Jailbreak Hackathon kicked off after U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll visited Romania and Germany, where he found that U.S. counter-drone systems were not adequately integrated, even with their own radar systems.

FT added that Ukrainian soldiers, who were playing the role of a simulated enemy during exercises, were able to integrate their weapons into a single communications system. This was one of the reasons that prompted the U.S. to reconsider its approach.

Major defense companies, including General Dynamics, Boeing, Anduril, and Palantir, then joined the hackathon. Over three days, engineers developed a range of solutions, including a robotic machine-gun system integrated with a network of drones.

The U.S. is planning to apply some of these findings to Central Command in the Middle East to counter Iranian drones.