Now in his fifth year as senior vice president and chief technology officer for Leonardo DRS, Perconti continues to work to solve battlefield challenges related to bringing AI-enabled sensing and computing to the tactical edge, from undersea operations to low-Earth orbit.

Defense News spoke with Perconti this month about how physical AI is becoming integral to military operations – and Leonardo DRS is supporting the transformation. Some responses have been edited for space and clarity.

Defense News: At the Army and in your current role, you helped determine which technological investments should take priority. What does that process look like in this moment when the rate of technology development is happening so quickly, particularly in spaces like counter-UAS and artificial intelligence?

Dr. Philip Perconti: First of all, you have to understand your customer, and you have to be connected to their mission. You have to spend a lot of time with customers at every level, all the way from the soldier or sailor on the ground up through the senior leadership level to understand where their concerns are, where their gaps are. DRS has a great reputation with the Department of War, so you know that’s one of the things that we pride ourselves on, is understanding and listening to the customer and taking the voice of the customer at face value and then planning technology development around that.

Q: Leonardo DRS is at the bleeding edge of counter-UAS, contributing to the Golden Dome missile shield, and building the nation’s Columbia Class submarines, to name a few things. What are the challenges to integrating physical AI into this diverse range?

A: What we’re trying to do is put artificial intelligence at the edge, on the platform itself, so that even if it’s disconnected, it remains mission capable. That level of integration is where DRS spends much of its time and energy.

When you start thinking about AI on tactical platforms, those systems have to operate across wide temperature ranges and in adverse conditions such as weather, smoke, dust, and vibration. All of that matters when you’re integrating AI into a tactical platform in a way that keeps it mission capable and still meets the customer’s price point.

Many AI models are developed in the lab, and then people try to fit them into the platform, only to find they do not work there. The model may be too large, or the GPU may not perform within the required temperature parameters. All of that has to be considered with physical AI. You have to start with the constraints, here is the operating envelope, and here is what the mission requires.

Q: How do you do that?

A: You start by assuming the system is disconnected. It has to make local decisions first, and then, if information is available and reach-back is possible, of course you take advantage of that. But on tactical platforms, that often is not the case.

That could mean a submarine, where you might have a large AI system on board acting as a server afloat; a space-borne AI application for communications, tracking, or sensing; or a tactical platform on the ground or an unmanned surface vessel at sea or undersea. Across all of those environments, the same principle applies.

If we’re really going to deploy AI, that includes both the foundation models people often think of, such as large language models, and what I would describe as computer vision or perception models for target detection, tracking, or classification. Those are not necessarily large language models, but they have their own discrete architectures built around specific tasks.

Everything we do is modular and based on open systems. We also have our own real-time, secure, edge-based physical AI operating system, SAGEcore, which runs these models in real time. Our company is ready to make that possible.

Q: Where is some of that testing and development taking place right now?

A: Some of that testing and development is happening in space right now. Our GPU-based processor chassis is flying with our communications module today. The idea is to receive signals there, process them on orbit—whether that means analyzing a threat, detecting something, or sending information down so action can be taken against a threat. That is physical edge processing in space.

We also have programs underway with the U.S. Army to bring automation for target detection and recognition into its legacy fleet of thermal sensors across a wide range of platforms. The Army wants to field that capability, but the challenge, again, comes down to price point and space claim. These legacy platforms are already packed with electronics. Finding room to add another box—especially one that requires meaningful size, weight, and power for this kind of processing—is a real challenge for our customers.

So we continue to work with them to demonstrate that we can put these kinds of GPUs into ruggedized chassis and integrate them into their platforms.

Q: You talked about the challenges of developing these capabilities for various challenging physical environments. What has Leonardo DRS learned about how and when to integrate the warfighter into the testing process and what kind of surprises do you encounter when technology leaves the lab?

A: One of the clearest messages from the Department of War is that speed matters most. The priority is to come forward with a good solution and then work through the capabilities and limitations that may come with what is, at first, perhaps an 80% solution for the requirement.

That means bringing users into the process early. We understand the environment, and we can make informed decisions about what is ready to show as a prototype or demonstration. When we do that, we are transparent with the user. We tell them where we know it will work and where we know we have not yet met every specification, especially when some of those specifications may not be critical to what they are trying to accomplish.

One of the surprises you can encounter when technology leaves the lab is that a commercial part may not perform well in the field simply because it was never designed for that environment. That is part of DRS’s differentiation—our ability to understand the platforms, the processes, and the emerging technologies, and to bring them into an operational environment in a way that will hold up. Even if the first version is an 80% solution, we know how to make sure it survives, and if the user wants to scale it, we know how to build it at scale.

Q: As we’ve seen in Ukraine, contemporary battlefields can be extremely instructive about technological needs and capabilities. What have you learned and are you learning from the recent conflict in Iran?

A: You go to war with the kit you have, so you’re always fighting the last war first. The challenge is to get out in front of that. We spend a lot of time asking how to look ahead and how to make decisions based on where warfare is going, not just where it has been.

It is a logical progression to say that if warfare today involves a single drone, warfare tomorrow will involve multiple drones or coordinated swarms that can create real challenges for less mobile forces. You also have to think about how those systems might be used in other applications, from surveillance and intelligence to other mission sets. Drones are not going anywhere. They are here to stay.

The level of autonomy they bring to bear, I believe, will be driven by physical AI, specifically, how much capability you want to put on those platforms and at what price point. We think about autonomy not only from the perspective of drones, but also from the perspective of unmanned vehicles more broadly. We are still learning from all of that, and we are helping shape how our customers think about it.

I define disruption as a technology or capability that causes you to think, act, work, or fight differently. If it does not do that, then it is not truly disruptive; it is incremental. So the next question is: what is the next disruption? In many cases, it comes back to price point. Do I have to use a missile that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars against a $55,000 drone? I think that is a solvable problem.

That’s the problem today, but it’ll be superseded by something else, and so that question is what we’re trying to get in front of. I think AI at the edge, or physical AI, is going to have a lot to say in the future about these problems.

Recent conflicts have made this clear. In Ukraine, fixed radar sites and air defense nodes were targeted early in the war. Pattern-of-life analysis, drone reconnaissance, and emissions tracking exposed sensors that had taken years to field. The lesson is simple: a known sensor is a vulnerable sensor. Ukraine’s response revealed the countermeasure. By distributing and networking thousands of small, low-cost Leonardo DRS RADA Technologies radars to create an integrated and resilient mosaic air defense picture, paired with systems like NASAMS and Patriot, Ukrainian forces forced adversary planners to solve a continuously moving problem. When individual systems were struck, the network absorbed the loss. Sensor handoffs helped maintain track custody, allied data links sustained the air picture, and reconstituted nodes returned to coverage quickly. Distribution did not eliminate vulnerability. It neutralized the decisive value of any single strike.

In the Israel–Gaza theater—and most dramatically during Iran’s April 2024 mass attack—a different architectural lesson emerged. Israel’s layered air defense network integrates Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow through a common and networked sensing layer composed of hundreds of small, low cost DRS RADA radars and an integrated battle management architecture. When one radar or intercept layer was saturated, adjacent nodes could pick up track custody without collapsing the air picture. Hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones were detected, prioritized, and engaged across multiple layers, with the vast majority defeated. The outcome was not the product of any single system. It was the product of a networked, redundant sensing and command architecture that denied the adversary a decisive gap. Across the region, lower-cost threats continue to attrit high-value platforms. One drone, one munition, or one uncovered corridor can shift the local balance unless the network is designed to close gaps automatically. The issue is structural. Many defense architectures have prioritized singular excellence: large, exquisite, and often irreplaceable nodes. Once located, these hard-to-hide systems attract adversary fires. The era of the “golden sensor” is ending.

The CVRT framework—Criticality, Vulnerability, Recuperability, and Threat—offers a useful diagnostic lens. Applied to legacy sensing systems, the results are uncomfortable: high criticality, high vulnerability, low recuperability, and a broad threat set. Effective architectures must distribute capability, reduce signatures, and prioritize recovery. Recuperability is not a secondary concern. It is a competitive advantage.

Owning the edge demands a layered network of distributed sensing. Compact radars, passive RF detection, electro-optical and infrared systems, and autonomous forward assets must sustain coverage and track custody even when individual nodes are disrupted. Distribution complicates adversary targeting: they must locate and suppress many systems rather than execute a single decisive strike.

This shift also changes where decisions are made. In contested environments, centralized control becomes a vulnerability. Tactical units require organic sensing and the authority to act at the edge. AI-enabled threat discrimination, autonomous cueing, and resilient communications must operate at the node level under commander’s intent, even with intermittent connectivity.

The required building blocks already exist: compact, software-defined, multi-mission AESA radars; communications gateways that bridge waveforms and echelons; autonomous systems that extend sensing without increasing exposure; and onboard processing that enables local exploitation without constant reach back. Technology is necessary—but it is not sufficient. The harder challenge is design and execution: concepts of employment, integration, sustainment, and training that assume attrition and disruption.

The choice is straightforward: Integrate edge-focused assumptions into operational design. Use CVRT analysis to identify and eliminate single points of failure. Fund prototypes that prove track custody continuity under loss, and resource rapid reconstitution as a requirement, not an afterthought. High ground has always been decisive. Today, it exists at the edge of sensing, decision, and action. The force that seizes and holds that ground will define the fight. The application of lower cost mobile and networked sensors provide combat proven resilience and will enable our forces to Own The Edge.

For more than fifty-five years, Leonardo DRS has built a reputation of technology leadership and innovation across every domain, including space. What began as a two-engineer effort in advanced signal processing has grown into one of the most consequential defense technology companies in the United States. From the earliest days of national space programs, DRS has delivered mission payloads, sensors, components, and enabling technologies that have supported United States civil and military space operations for generations.

Our legacy in space is long, proven, and operational. DRS sensors and payloads aboard the GOES spacecraft have provided near real time weather data for both defense and civil missions for decades, supporting everything from missile warning readiness to disaster response. Today, that heritage accelerates with new capabilities built for a contested space environment. Our recent first on orbit test of the eXtended Crypto Module 3 Space (XCM3), a multichannel software defined radio with integrated advanced cryptography, establishes a new benchmark for secure satellite data transport at the tactical edge. In parallel, our next generation TRKT3 MW MT Mission Payload for the Space Development Agency (SDA) Tracking Layer Tranche 3 reinforces our role as a critical provider of advanced space-based sensing and missile warning capabilities for the joint force.

Across every domain, Leonardo DRS remains committed to open architecture principles. We proudly support the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) and serve as a Principal Member of the SOSA Consortium. This is not compliance for its own sake. MOSA is a strategic philosophy grounded in the recognition that no single company can own every solution the warfighter will ever require. Open standards enable adaptability, rapid modernization, and the ability to insert the best available capability today while preserving the freedom to evolve tomorrow.

That adaptability extends to how we build. Leonardo DRS relies upon a nationwide industrial footprint and more than 7,000 America team members committed to providing our armed forces with overmatch capabilities. We rapidly design, manufacture, and deliver integrated technologies that advance next generation space, air and missile defense capabilities across all domains, from concept through production and sustainment. We continue to expand our facilities and broaden our supplier network to deliver accelerated production and increased surge capacity.

Looking forward, the most challenging and important work ahead lies at the intersection of our domains, especially space. The technologies and capabilities of Leonardo DRS, accessible via MDA’s SHIELD[i] , will leverage the deep experience across ground, sea, air, space, and missile defense efforts, with a focus on speed, integration, and scalability. Space based sensing, secure data transport, and resilient architectures are now inseparable from homeland defense. With solutions on nearly every military platform and a large installed base, DRS is positioned to accelerate the transition toward a more autonomous and space-enabled future, one built on advanced sensing and AI-enabled computing systems that reduce the cognitive burden on commanders and enable better, and faster, decision-making.

The Golden Dome vision is urgent and achievable. The threat demands it. Leonardo DRS stands ready to play an important role in providing the advanced technologies and capabilities that will enable our forces to Own The Edge.

[1] The MDA SHIELD (Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense) is the Missile Defense Agency’s system-of-systems framework for layered homeland missile defense, executed through multiple IDIQ contracts and task orders.

Breast cancer treatment involves five key areas: prevention, screening, early diagnosis, treatment, and continuing care. When a person is first diagnosed with breast cancer, they meet with the Murtha Breast Cancer team working together to look at the biology of the patient’s tumors to determine treatment. “Your surgeon, medical/radiation oncologist, pathologist, geneticist, nursing, etc. proactively work on a treatment plan,” says Marie Borsellino RN MSN OCN, Survivorship Coordinator for the Uniformed Service’s University’s (USU) Murtha Cancer Center Research Program (MCCRP) at the Murtha Cancer Center (MCC), Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

We have newer treatment options that target the subtypes of cancer beyond hormone treatments, such as targeted treatments that block certain proteins that control how cancer cells grow, multiply, and spread,” she explains. “Targeted treatments for HER2-positive cancer have improved survival over the last 10 years.” Borsellino is also encouraged by the promise of immunotherapy. “It trains your body to fight cancer by using your own immune system,” she says.

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Borsellino encourages screening for early detection. “Early detection increases the chances that breast cancer can be treated and cured,” she says. It all starts with prevention and awareness of your personal risk and need for screening for early detection. Women who are at average risk of breast cancer should have screening mammograms every year starting at age 40. Please speak with your health care provider to determine your personal risk.

In addition to breast screening activities and outreach activities available at MCC, HJF for the past several years has partnered with Leonardo DRS to support breast cancer research through the “Stick It 2 Cancer” initiative. Donations will support MCC’s “Look Good, Feel Better” program that helps breast cancer patients take action to deal with appearance issues related to their breast cancer treatment.

If you would like to support breast cancer, please donate here.

Leonardo DRS is entering the CMFF competition as a prime and lead systems integrator (LSI). Mike Stucki, Director, Business Development, and Charles Niles, VP, Business Development for Leonardo DRS Land Electronics, offered the following on the company’s unique capabilities in developing CMFF.

Q: Why is Leonardo DRS the best partner to provide CMFF?

A: We are, quite simply, the most reliable path to a low-risk CMFF solution. We expertly integrate hardware, software, and resilient industry-leading cyber capabilities that meet the most challenging environmental conditions of the modern battlefield. Additionally, we have worked tirelessly to select a best of breed team to address the wide array of payloads required to perform all the warfighting functions on vehicle platforms.

Leonardo DRS embodies the knowledge and experience gained through 20+ years of providing combat-proven Mission Command and Battle Management System hardware systems for situational awareness, fire control solutions, and logistics tracking. We also design and develop mission critical tactical computing across the U.S. Army’s entire fleet of ground combat and tactical wheeled vehicles, ensuring their computing hubs are a reliable component of the larger C5 architecture, facilitating the critical execution of mission command for our Warfighters.

Q: CMFF is an agile solution. How does Leonardo DRS’s agility play into creating this system of systems?

A: Among our many products that provide agile and rapidly upgradeable options is the JV5 version of FBCB2, which has a slot-based chassis that facilitates the rapid upgrade of capabilities to address emerging threats. Another example, in the latest MFoCS hardware, we designed a capability upgrade bay so desired capabilities could be inserted rapidly without needing to go through a multi-year procurement for a new single-purpose tactical computer. We also recently launched a product that meets the threats of an enemy when denying GPS access to our soldiers’ Position, Navigation, and Timing capabilities. This product, APNT Converged Compute-Embedded Scalable (AC2ES), demonstrates how we can provide APNT capabilities merged with situational awareness to align with the idea of rapid upgrades.

Q: How does Leonardo DRS’s legacy of providing rugged computers translate into the solution for the future?

A: Leonardo DRS has been a trusted partner to the U.S. Army for 25+ years. For the past two decades, we’ve designed, developed, manufactured, and delivered 300,000+ tactical computing systems and displays. Our intimate knowledge of the combat and wheeled vehicle fleet, coupled with our systems engineering rigor to meet the most stringent military requirements, result in providing hardware that will not fail our Warfighters at critical operational points on the modern multi-domain battlefield. This durability and reliability uniquely qualify Leonardo DRS to provide a low-risk CMFF capability to the U.S. Army that will survive on our combat vehicles in the harshest conditions.

Q: Why does CMFF matter to the Warfighter?

A: The answer is twofold. First, we are easing the workload of the Soldier by providing SWAP-C advantages, reduced training, and less maintenance time on multiple capability components. Second, CMFF reduces acquisition time, allowing the rapid integration of capability upgrades providing soldiers with improved situational awareness and networking on the battlefield.

Today’s threats are constantly evolving. A solid CMFF solution developed by Leonardo DRS will allow our Warfighters to overmatch those threats, accomplish their missions and get home safely.

To learn more about the Leonardo DRS CMFF solution, please visit LeonardoDRS.com/CMFF.

Threats are changing fast and adversaries are investing in advanced technologies to gain an edge. How can service leaders and industry officials help provide an advantage and what are the keys to ground force modernization in the coming years? During AUSA Global Force Next, Defense News hosted a virtual event, and explored these topics and more with Army leaders.

Watch Webcast Recording:

Guest Speakers:

• LTG Scott McKean, Deputy Commanding General, Army Futures Command
• LTG Thomas Todd, Deputy Commanding General for Acquisition and Systems Management, Army Futures Command
• Dr. Daniel Goure, Senior Vice President, Lexington Institute

This event took place on October 15, 2020

AUSA leaders and reporters from Defense News and C4ISRNET discussed the news from the day’s meetings, offering analysis on the keynote speeches and providing perspective on what to expect moving forward. This was a quick analysis of Day 3 of the 2020 AUSA Annual Meeting.

Gust Speakers:

• Daniel S. Roper, U.S. Army, Retired, Director, National Security Studies, AUSA
• Mike Gruss, Executive Editor, Defense News & C4ISRNET
• Jen Judson, Land Warfare Reporter, Defense News
• Aaron Mehta, Deputy Editor/ Pentagon, Defense News

MFoCS II protects, connects and enables mission command and expeditionary command post-performance. New cybersecurity capabilities underpin the tactical computer’s embedded security architecture. This security architecture provides the mission-critical computer cyber-hardened protection at its core. Integrating voice, data, and video, combined with an upgraded next-generation Xeon processor unit, along with 32GB of RAM, enables the manipulation of modern warfighting applications. This system can run using a virtual machine architecture, supporting multiple operating systems and applications. All of the rugged displays (10”, 12”, 15” and 17”) are sunlight-readable and multi-touch enabled, vital for intuitive operation and carrying out missions safely. These systems can provide the commander with “single pane of glass” situational awareness. An integrated operating environment will also enable improved and more rapid situational understanding.

The improved MFoCS II system easily integrates with other sensors, systems and applications on ground vehicle platforms. It provides the Army with an upgraded bay to add mission functionality such as Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT) or electronic warfare (EW). The machine also has additional storage capacity to support supplementary map data or edge analytics. The improved MFoCS II system facilitates the utilization of many force-multiplying functions like connecting multiple types of radios, remotely controlling them from the commander’s display unit, radio cross-banding, threat detection sensor integration, camera integration, vehicle bus integration, power sub-system control, among many other functions. This provides leaders all of the necessary information, at the right time, to make the right decision when mission success depends on it.

Modernization objectives like these are priorities for Leonardo DRS because they are priorities for the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense (DOD). What started as a single-purpose computer, has now become a modular, scalable, multi-purpose mission-command system that can host multiple existing and future capabilities. This improved and evolutionary family of mission-critical computers, tablets and rugged displays is already in production to offer an advanced C5 capability today while enabling future capability enhancements required by modernization. This new powerful mounted computing platform offers a size, weight, and power (SWaP) reducing, best-value Mounted Computing Environment (MCE) solution with battle-proven reliability. MFoCS II addresses modernization requirements while innovatively bridging the gap to the next generation, called Mounted Mission Command (MMC).

While the DOD continues to communicate the importance of preparing for malicious attacks, the industry must be committed to making these technologies resilient, to keep the machines prepared and safeguarded ensuring Soldier safety, which in turn, ensures civilian safety. As the U.S. Army presses forward with modernization efforts, a combination of new and legacy, MFoCS platforms will remain in the fleet – all of them with mission-critical network requirements. This system of computers and displays represents the most advanced generation of trusted COTS-based mission computing solutions ever engineered for tactical platform use. Systems need to be able to be relied upon in the face of any environmental extreme: heat, cold, shock and vibration, rain, humidity, and cyber. As future Army technologies mature, sensor analytics, artificial intelligence and vehicle autonomy continue to move to the forefront of where the evolution of our machinery and mission-critical systems are headed. Edge-AssuredTM CyberSecurity on MFoCS II provides the foundation for this protection, by fortifying and securing down to the hardware level, automatically.

As warfare continues to evolve, with an increasing role of Cyber in shaping the outcomes of conflict across the globe, it is a universal imperative that in the world of defense, we prepare the Soldier for every possible scenario. The future of platform mission computing capabilities is MFOCS II – proven mission-critical solutions to enable Multi-Domain Operations (MDO).

One of the first modernization programs the U.S. Army has undertaken is upgrading a number of brigades of M1A2 main battle tanks with Active Protection Systems (APS) to counter increasingly lethal anti-armor threats on the battlefield.

APS is ground-breaking defensive technology that automatically detects and neutralizes incoming threat projectiles before they reach a target, casting a protective field around the vehicle through which RPGs and guided missiles cannot penetrate. Leonardo DRS provides the Army with Trophy APS, the only operationally and combat-proven system available.

As potential enemies expand their inventories of small unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Leonardo DRS also provides the U.S military with vehicle-mounted options designed to target both medium and small UAS threats. The company’s Initial Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense equipment package, when integrated on the Stryker A1 platform, will provide maneuver Brigade Combat Teams with a full “detect-identify-track-defeat” capability required to defeat UAS, rotary-wing and fixed-wing threats.

New state-of-the-art ground combat networking technology will increase situational awareness in future conflicts.

The Mounted Family of Computer Systems II (MFoCS II) computing hardware, which operates the next-generation blue force tracking software and many other combat applications, is a more powerful and updated system than its predecessor. The U.S. Army will soon be incorporating these systems in tactical ground combat vehicles in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps fleets. MFoCS II, developed by Leonardo DRS, enables the next generation of computing and display technology with faster processing speeds, multi-function and applications capabilities.

The need for troops to have access to most state-of-the-art EO/IR technologies mounted on vehicles, helmets or handheld is essential to keep the edge over increasingly advanced adversaries around the world.

Technologies like the Leonardo DRS handheld Joint Effects Targeting System is a smaller next-generation EO/IR technology giving forward observers the ability to protect their fellow soldiers with extremely accurate calls for fire.

The Improved Night Observation Device (INOD) thermal weapon sight provides degraded environment and night/day visibility for missions requiring extended target detection and identification ranges while also enabling observation of environmental indicators and bullet tracking for improved down-range accuracy.

A longtime leader in in developing advanced EOIR technologies, Leonardo DRS is also fielding its popular infrared Family of Weapon Sights – Individual systems that work in tandem with the new night vision goggle systems

The U.S. military is keeping ahead of the evolving threats by modernizing its forces and incorporating these advanced defensive protection capabilities to give its forces the edge they need to complete their mission.

See more at LeonardoDRS.com/AUSA