These are huge strategic challenges — and Ryan McCarthy is emphasizing them more than any of his predecessors in at least a decade.

Industry’s prototype Robotic Combat Vehicles are proving more capable than the Army expected, Brig. Gen. Richard Ross Coffman told me: “It is really exciting.”

But building a global 3D terrain database will require wrangling huge amounts of data, Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais told us.

The services are collaborating as never before, officials said, as they outsource non-combat networks through new “IT as a service” contracts.

“So, we’re purposely trying to identify those things that may fundamentally change the way in which we are approaching warfare and our concept of operations.”

In a massive simulated conflict, the human players adapted rapidly to futuristic technologies and tactics. But their command-and-control software couldn’t keep up.

“How do I even know what’s normal and what’s abnormal so I can detect anomalies? We simply don’t know,” says Dean Souleles, chief technology advisor for the Director of National Intelligence.

The military will use Silicon Valley’s approach to quickly field imperfect products, then rapidly improve them based on user feedback.

The Army wants a single seamless data system from home base to the front line. That’s even harder than it sounds.

Oracle says a federal judge called the procurement “unlawful” — but that word doesn’t actually show up once in his 60-page ruling. And that isn’t Oracle’s only problem.