The Torch
Illuminating Security and Defence Issues
Emerging Technologies
Cheap drones are reshaping the war in the sky
8 April 2026
How the US is fighting a war without sending ground troops to Iran — and the inexpensive drones making it harder....
Railgun Being Fired By U.S. Navy Again After Abandoning It For Years
8 April 2026
The Trump class "battleship" has breathed new life into the Navy's railgun ambitions, which it previously shelved after hitting technical hurdles....
Caltech Team Finds Useful Quantum Computers Could Be Built with as Few as 10,000 Qubits
8 April 2026
Theoretical discovery opens the door to building quantum computers with significantly reduced resources....
Hunt For Container Launchers Packed With Drones Kicked-Off By Pentagon
10 March 2026
The U.S. military wants proposals for containerized systems that can launch and recover a mixture of drone swarms on land and sea....
Military AI Adoption Is Outpacing Global Cooperation
10 March 2026
Militaries worldwide are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) while international cooperation flounders. With the United States and China less engaged at a recent AI military summit, middle powers appear to face a choice: lead the conversation or proceed into a future devoid of guardrails....
Not today, but soon: fully autonomous air combat is coming
10 March 2026
Top Gun: Maverick begins with Rear Admiral Cain alluding to how Maverick and human pilots in general will have no place in the future of air combat. Maverick’s response is calm but defiant: ‘Maybe so, sir, but not today.’ The scene may be fictional, but it reflects current developments in military aviation as technological advances in increasingly autonomous uncrewed aircraft are disrupting long-standing doctrines developed around manned aircraft....
The U.S. DoD’s AI Acceleration Strategy
2 February 2026
On January 9th, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released its Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy. The Strategy promotes a familiar outcome: for the U.S. military to become “AI-first.”...
DARPA’s Advanced Technology Development and Commercialization
2 February 2026
In its Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) requested roughly $1.9 billion to fund new projects that were previously part of its Network-Centric Warfare Technology program. The new efforts, aligned under the DARPA Advanced Technology Development program, signal continuity with Network-Centric Warfare, focusing on the unification of technologically advanced systems across U.S. services....
Cyber isn’t the whole story in Venezuela—but it’s a key takeaway
2 February 2026
For Australia and the Indo-Pacific, one of the more consequential and under-recognised takeaways from the United States’ operation in Venezuela is how cyber and digital effects were integrated alongside kinetic force....
More AI tools coming in days or weeks, Pentagon R&D chief says
4 January 2026
The Pentagon will widely deploy new AI tools for logistics, intelligence analysis, and combat planning in days or weeks, its research-and-engineering chief said Monday, adding that wide deployment of artificial intelligence now tops his list of “critical technologies.”...
DoD’s AI Balancing Act
4 January 2026
Exaggerations and unsubstantiated claims pervade debates about the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across the government, economy, and society. The hype cuts both ways, with both proponents and opponents of AI adoption making claims that require more evidence and analysis to adjudicate. This battle is particularly salient in the realm of national security, in which the stakes of technological adoption can be life-and-death....
China, Russia pulling ahead of NATO in Arctic drone capabilities: report
4 January 2026
A new study by the Center for European Policy Analysis suggests Russia and China are pulling ahead of NATO nations, including Canada, in the race to develop and field drones capable of operating in harsh Arctic conditions....
The Future of Submarine Tracking Through Quantum Research and the AUKUS Partnership
13 December 2025
The U.K.’s successful testing of quantum atomic clocks aboard submarines provides validation for further research in quantum integration in underwater environments. These trials are not only advancing GPS-independent navigation but also validating the stability of quantum systems in submarine conditions. This progress will likely influence the development of quantum magnetometers in the near future. ...
The pilot of an F-22 just controlled a drone wingman in flight
13 December 2025
High above a Nevada test range, an F-22 pilot took control of a combat drone last month, a first for the Air Force's robot wingman effort. The pilot used a tablet for “command and control” of the MQ‑20 Avenger combat drone during an Oct. 21 flight at the Air Force’s Nevada Test and Training Range, according to a Monday press release by MQ-20 maker General Atomics, which worked on the demonstration with F-22 builder Lockheed Martin and defense company L3Harris....
Military AI needs guardrails—not to slow it down, but to keep it useful
13 December 2025
As the Trump administration pushes to “aggressively adopt AI” in the military, there’s a recognition that some of the models may have protections or limitations that aren’t applicable in a military context. To be sure, some of these will need modification to suit the military’s mission. But there are many reasons that the military will want to have guardrails built in, for its own protection....
AI is about to reshape command structures that haven’t changed much since Napoleon
13 November 2025
Despite two centuries of evolution, the structure of a modern military staff would be recognizable to Napoleon. At the same time, military organizations have struggled to incorporate new technologies as they adapt to new domains – air, space and information – in modern war.
Planning for risks in the quantum age
13 November 2025
Quantum computing is sounding less like a distant sci-fi dream these days, with the pace of investment and scientific advances bringing it closer to reality. These new quantum systems will bring new opportunities, but also threaten some of our existing cybersecurity fundamentals.
The key to winning a Pacific war: cheap cruise missiles
12 November 2025
Cheap ground-launched cruise missiles could be the decisive weapons of the next Pacific war. They’re concealable, mobile, just accurate enough to hit some of the time, just powerful enough to inflict meaningful damage and—most importantly—simple enough to be inexpensive and mass-producible. These munitions could sink fleets, wipe out air forces, unravel supply lines and devastate war industries.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S GROWING ROLE IN MODERN WARFARE
13 October 2025
Nations are racing to integrate AI into military operations, with Ukraine and Russia at the forefront of developing autonomous systems for battlefield advantage....
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Reflections on Artificial intelligence and Canadian Defence
13 October 2025
The question is no longer whether armed forces will adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI), but how deeply it will be integrated into their operations. ...