Such early and continuous connections were key. Leveraging commercial technology must be strategic. During this critical early period, core technologies are developed, standards are created, and rollout plans are shaped. When the right experts can connect early in the process, the right technologies can be applied to the right mission needs. Bringing two partners together isn't guaranteed to lead to innovation.

Data prepper Tamr Inc. will assist the U.S. Air Force in boosting utilization of its air assets under a five-year contract designed to use machine learning techniques to accelerate the flight certification process for new aircraft configurations. Those configurations include equipping front-line aircraft with new weapons, sensors and defenses such as electronic warfare pods. Tamr said the contract with the Air Force's Seek Eagle Office could be worth as much $60 million. The office based at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is responsible for integration new technologies into front-line aircraft. The Air Force office will use Tamr's machine learning platform to organize more than 30 years of aircraft performance studies dispersed across the organization.

In its efforts to make greater use of commercial technologies, a Pentagon innovation office formed to streamline government contracting has expanded an predictive maintenance effort designed to keep front-line aircraft ready for duty. The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) created in 2015 to link the military with technology vendors recently awarded a five-year, $95 million contract to C3.ai to boost aircraft readiness. The company said it will provide an AI-based software application that uses machine learning algorithms to monitor aircraft systems. The goal is to spot critical subsystem failures before they occur and help predict the parts and maintenance required to keep aircraft flying. The AI platform also would serve as a logistics tool, identifying the type of part required to fix an airborne system and where that part can be acquired from DoD's far-flung logistics network.

Tiny drones could scout high-rise buildings and underground tunnels for possible threats to US troops in cities of the future. But instead of spending years cooking up the necessary drone technologies in military research labs, the Pentagon might be better off shopping for the latest civilian drones coming soon to stores. US military leaders have discussed the need for a new generation of scout drones for some time. After all, kicking down doors is a dirty and dangerous business for US troops trying to clear enemy-held buildings. It would be far safer to deploy diminutive drone buddies to provide an initial peek inside, and identify any potential threats.