Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a unique entity within the U.S. military-industrial complex.

The company is quite young; it was founded in New York State in 1994, but later, finding the tax rate in New York State too high, it moved to Delaware to re-register in 1998.

It went public on NASDAQ in November 1999.

Originally, it was a concept company created by a group of veterans who wanted to make a quick buck during the internet craze. However, after actually getting involved, they found that they couldn't really make the most of the high-tech internet.

Fortunately, the company's founding team consisted of veterans with strong military backgrounds. Starting in 2004, they made an emergency transformation, began to promote the concept of wireless security, and provided products and services to the US government and the US Department of Defense.

Their technology is primarily acquired, and their entry point differs from traditional arms dealers. They are second-tier defense contractors, with low cost and affordability at their core. They have established a firm foothold in target drones, battlefield integration systems, and electronic warfare components.

Of course, the company doesn't want to stop there. They hope to gain more opportunities and are currently developing drones. Their high-performance jet combat drone platform, Mako, is expected to be delivered in a few years.

Just when everything was running smoothly at the company, in April, Bobby Dornbos, one of the company's directors, forcibly pulled away some engineers to test one of her ideas.

While browsing Apple's duck videos, Bobby Dornboss was watching a trending video about fixing horseshoes when she noticed a series of reviews from American farmers about Aurora Group's agricultural drones. She clicked on one and was quite surprised by the various data presented.

In the following days, she saw several more videos showing that some American farmers had started to modify their own drones and were using parts provided by DJI to create all sorts of different things.

She felt like she had discovered something incredible, so she quickly contacted the company's engineers and requested a large number of people to help.

The company's engineering team initially wanted to decline; they were currently researching the Mako, a turbojet engine with a service ceiling of 15000 meters, a speed of Mach 0.91, and a range of 2600 kilometers. With external and internal loads, it could carry a total payload of 320 kilograms.

Because it is a drone, it is small in size and more maneuverable, and can even be directly mounted on fighter jets such as the F-35 for human-machine collaborative combat.

While Aurora Group's drones are indeed excellent, being unprecedented aerial photography tools, they are also great tools in agriculture and rescue operations.

But since it's just an electric motor and a propeller, they really couldn't see any potential for war development in it.

The rest of the company, from the chairman and CEO down to the ordinary junior engineers, didn't really care about this project.

But no one could say no to Bobbi Donbos, after all, she was a retired lieutenant general, one of the first female fighter pilots in the United States, and had nearly 25 years of service in the U.S. military. Bobbi Flash was already a legendary codename in the Air Force.

She participated in Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. After retiring, she didn't rest. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Iowa State University, a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College, and finally an EMBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

This is a top-tier human being.

The company had no choice but to assemble a team of 35 people and hand them over to her to conduct tests at their factory and flight test range in Oklahoma City.

鲍比·多恩博斯直接订购了5台极光集团出品的的T1和T2无人机，T1无人机採用碳纤维複合材料的异型6旋翼机构，展开尺寸2520×2212×720mm。

载荷16升，也就是16公斤。带有8喷头4水泵，流量可达4.8升每分钟，每小时可以作业150亩。

The T2 model is the same type, but its load capacity has been increased to 20 liters and 20 kilograms, and it is equipped with the latest Latte Smart Chip, which can effectively model in real time.

The final results far exceeded expectations. After three days of testing, the engineers at Kratos Corporation understood that Bobby Dornbos lived up to his reputation, possessing an exceptionally high level of combat acumen.

This agricultural drone can be seamlessly transformed into a very powerful weapon platform.

This is a completely different approach from Mako, which is a more traditional deterrent weapon.

The weapon platform they are currently using, modified from the T2 drone, is a powerful tool from the ground-based meat grinder era. It is lower in cost, easier to use, and very suitable for frontline deployment.

They have given them a modified platform called TF, which is short for Tactical Farmer.

With further testing, they discovered that TF has many advantages and should be easy to promote.

Compared to the Mako, which flies at an altitude of over 10,000 meters and reaches speeds close to Mach 1, the requirements for operators are much higher.

The operation of TF is simply foolproof. It is a hovering flight, and the flight control of the Aurora drone is ridiculously stable. Even someone with no experience can learn to use it in two or three days.

On June 1, Kratos' core executive team gathered in Oklahoma City. Bobby Dornbos said confidently, "This is absolutely a very good weapons platform. According to our calculations, it should be able to fly two or three thousand meters and carry 12 M67 fragmentation grenades."

Alternatively, you could use M312 81mm mortar shells for attacking bunkers, or C4 plastic explosives for attacking fortifications. We could even equip them with custom warheads; in short, there are many options.

And this thing isn't expensive; one T2 costs less than $15,000, so we can easily buy it and modify it.

The executives present had already noticed many problems, but none of them dared to speak up, and all turned to look at a tall man on the side.

The tall man covered his face and said, "Bobby, it's not that simple. I've seen all the tests and experiments, and we're still far from success. Our modifications haven't been successful. First of all, we still can't crack the system."

It's not just a simple altitude restriction; its flight control microcontroller has a physical fuse mechanism, and attempting to flash the firmware will trigger various spontaneous bugs. Even more troublesome is that its AI chip requires special verification, and I suspect this thing has regional limitations—it can't be used outside the United States.

"We can't handle any of the systemic coordination. No wonder it's Chen Yiran's company; how come such a small thing has absolutely no loopholes?"

The tall man is named Lald Beaman, the current head of the company's unmanned combat aircraft division. He and Bobby have been friends for over a decade.

Of course, he was no ordinary person either; he was a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral and former commander of the Third Fleet.

Bobby slapped the table: "Then I won't worry about it. You guys are in charge of this. I've already found such a great platform. How to implement it is your business."

Actually, I'm just a board member, and I've already done a great job by helping you with R&D. But can't we just go and buy it directly?"

Lald Beaman shook his head: "Aurora Group is a large conglomerate, and their drone project is Chinese! Trade agreement laws restrict us from purchasing Chinese products and selling them to the U.S. military."

"Our situation falls under the category of a substantial change in the nature of the product, so we should be able to bypass it?"

"Even if that's the case, so what? How do we bypass the Aurora Group's restrictions within the system? Besides, their AI chip is very powerful; it would be a waste not to use it. We must find a way to integrate it into our own weapon systems."

At this point, CEO Eric Demarco spoke up: "Ultimately, we still need to talk to Aurora directly as soon as possible! As long as the products aren't made in China, it's fine. I believe Aurora can't possibly have only one factory in China."

Even if there aren't any other factories, it's not too late to start building now. This project is really tempting; it could be a long-term project, so we need to negotiate a cooperation model with them.

Lald Beaman, sensing something amiss, whispered, "What's going on? Why the rush? Is there already a need?"

Eric Demarco nodded: "The CIA is asking about it. I don't know the specifics yet, I only know the code name, they say it's called Operation Sycamore."