
Ideas
China's burgeoning drone arsenal shows power of civil-military fusion
Trump's recent executive orders are just one step in a race against a competitor with a very long lead.
Defense Systems
The Navy’s dynamic sub-hunting duo
Future operations will lean on manned-unmanned platforms—MQ-4C Triton and Boeing’s P-8A—and a single digital dashboard.
Threats
‘If Russia is coming, then we will bring the war to Russia’: Inside NATO’s muscular new deterrence plans
Europe and the United States are more aligned than some headlines suggest—but they have different perceptions of the threat.
Sponsor Content
GovExec TV: Five Questions with Henry Brooks
In this episode, we sit down with Henry Brooks to discuss how agencies can accelerate mission readiness by leveraging commercial technology.

Business
Boeing says they can build F/A-XX *and* F-47, rejecting SecNav's concerns
Defense chief adds that Qatari-747 conversion won’t affect its Air Force One contract.
Business
Lockheed says new upgrade package for F-35 is ready
The TR-3 upgrade is more than two years late and has been plagued by software-development problems.
Sponsor Content
Optimizing Individual Health Readiness for the National Guard and Reserve
Optum Serve supports National Guard and Reserve forces, recognizing their medical readiness is vital to national security and mission readiness.

Threats
Four scenarios for the Middle East, from a former IDF intel chief
The collapse of Hezbollah, Hamas, and Assad presented an “opportunity” for Israel to expand its war across the Middle East, Amos Yadlin said.
Ideas
Is gun violence depressing military recruiting?
Perhaps the problem is not that young people are insufficiently patriotic, but that they have been fighting a war, daily, for their entire lives.
Voices
Threats
Mossad agents sabotaged Iranian defenses as airstrikes began, Israeli official says
Covert units inside Iran used precision-guided weapons and vehicle-mounted systems to suppress air defenses, an Israeli security official said in remarks distributed to press.
Science & Tech
How drone warfare fares in the 2026 budget
The president’s proposal leans heavily on one-time reconciliation dollars.
Policy
Hegseth says chief of naval operations nomination is coming ‘in due time’
Lawmakers question firings of, and lack of replacements for, senior military leadership.
Ideas
The military must remain nonpartisan. America depends on it
The soldiers who cheered partisan applause lines at Fort Bragg, and their leaders, erred in a spectacular way.
Policy
Lawmakers rip into defense secretary over flat Pentagon budget
The Pentagon is counting on one-time funds from a reconciliation bill to fund investments in shipbuilding and missile defense.
Policy
USAF slashes F-35 buy, boosts next-gen fighter in unconventional 2026 budget proposal
The Pentagon’s spending request includes not just the usual appropriations, but also the still-under-debate reconciliation bill.
Science & Tech
Uncrewed battle groups? DARPA, admirals offer glimpses of the Navy’s robotic future
The pace of technology—and the realities of industrial capacity—are opening naval minds to the possibilities.
Policy
Meet DOGE's team inside the Defense Department
ProPublica has identified four men installed by defense contractor Elon Musk at the Pentagon—and 100 more across the federal government.
Policy
US spy chief wants intel community to move away from building its own tech
Gabbard says industry can provide more tools, citing AI systems that are already helping analysts with major tasks.
Policy