Moldovans hold national flags at a rally in the courtyard of Moldovan presidential headquarters in Chisinau, Moldova, on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Elena Covalnco/AFP via Getty Images)
An unmanned surface vehicle (USV) conducts testing of an autonomous over-the-horizon solution conceived by student researchers at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) during a Navy exercise off the coast of California on August 19, 2023. (US Navy photo)
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning prepares for sea trials at Dalian shipyard on February 29, 2024, in Dalian, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Airmen from the 1st Air Support Operations Group utilize data links as part of Exercise Chaos Quate at Moody Air Force Base on March 15, 2022. (US Air Force photo by 1st Lt Katie Tamesis)
A MARTAC T-24 unmanned surface vehicle (USV) drives autonomously during a demonstration for NATO mine countermeasures personnel as part of exercise Baltic Operations 2023 (BALTOPS 23). (DVIDS)
A US Air Force F-35A Lightning II refuels during exercise Mobility Guardian 23 on July 18, 2023, over the Pacific Ocean. (US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christian Sullivan)
US Marines remove “Amy,” an uncrewed surface vehicle, from the water during Technology Operational Experimentation Event 23.1 on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on April 21, 2023. (US Marine Corps photo)
A contractor welds on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), in Norfolk, Virginia, on January 21, 2014. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Crayton Agnew)
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Daniel Inouye sails behind the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on January 25, 2024. (Chris Williamson via DVIDS)