The science of autonomy is a broad area covering many disciplines including: mathematics, control theory, computer science, physics, information science, communication theory, cognitive science, biology, and sensors. It is an active area of research around the world and has been rapidly expanding.  In addition to military applications, autonomous platforms can play significant roles in civilian applications particularly in the areas of health care, transportation, and others resulting in quality of life improvements. From the Department of Defense point of view, there are strategic advantages with using autonomous platforms for military missions.   The Air Force, Army, and Navy, in partnership with universities and industry, are actively involved in research towards the development of autonomous platforms for air, ground and sea domains. Autonomy is not an absolute quantity but a continuum. The degree of achievable autonomy depends on the type of platform, the mission, and the level of maturity of relevant technologies. Examples will be shown to illustrate some of the on-going research across the Department of Defense in support of new autonomous platforms. Most of the talk centers on unmanned air vehicles ranging in size from large to micro for military applications. The talk will conclude with suggestions for research.