The US Army is outfitting soldiers with artificial intelligence tools to help rapidly identify enemy threats on the battlefield through an app from San Francisco startup TurbineOne. The rollout follows a $98.9 million Army contract and aligns with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s push to adopt commercial software and prioritize AI and drones over legacy systems, The Independent reports.
AI tools head to phones, laptops and drones
According to The Independent, citing The Wall Street Journal, the Army will load TurbineOne’s applications onto soldiers’ phones, drones and laptops to surface battlefield insights that previously relied on analysts reviewing sensor feeds from drones, planes and satellites. The app is described as helping troops quickly spot threats such as drone launch sites or concealed enemy positions, while allowing users to set detections for specific targets like drones or tanks and receive continuous updates as they move.
TurbineOne is being fielded unit by unit as the company gathers feedback and refines the product. Over one weekend of use, TurbineOne implemented more than 200 software revisions based on soldier input, the company’s chief executive, Ian Kalin, said. The technology is reportedly compatible with any large language model, and the Department of Defense awarded contracts in July to Google, xAI, Anthropic and OpenAI to develop models for military use.
Race for speed and resilience at the edge
Fighting through jamming and “no one can hide”
Army senior executive Andrew Evans told The Wall Street Journal that the service aims to process data 10 to 25 times faster than adversaries, calling speed crucial to battlefield superiority. He said pervasive surveillance means “no one can hide,” and outcomes will hinge on who has the fastest AI. Soldiers will ultimately decide how to use TurbineOne’s outputs in the field.
Evans said the tools are intended to be critical where communications are jammed. Kalin added that in conflict zones, activating a cellphone or radio can expose a soldier’s location, underscoring the need to operate with only the equipment carried. The Independent notes that battlefield blackouts have become common in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The outlet also reports TurbineOne can control “drone swarms” capable of coordinated strikes. Earlier this year, Ukraine used a drone swarm in an attack on Russian strategic airbases. Thus far, TurbineOne has been used in US military training exercises in Europe, at the Canadian border and in the Pacific.
