Business

GPS Upgrades Are Late and Over Budget. Here's Why We Should Stay the Course

There's no better alternative to the GPS III and OCX programs, which thankfully appear to be on track at last.

Business

F-35 Production Set to Quadruple As Massive Factory Retools

After years of delays, the Joint Strike Fighter program is finally ready to hit the afterburner.

Science & Tech

The Futuristic Aircraft That May Replace the Black Hawk Will Fly Next Year

But don’t expect the V-280 or SB-1 to hit battlefields until after 2030 — unless their builders find other customers first.

Science & Tech

The Increasingly Automated Hunt for Mobile Missile Launchers

The trick is training computers to filter the normal from an ocean of imagery, alert human analysts sparingly, and learn from their feedback.

Science & Tech

Want More F-22s? Here’s What That Would Take

Congress is inquiring about restarting the Raptor production line, cold for almost five years now.

Threats

Retaking A Booby-Trapped City, With US Help

Several months after Iraqi troops flushed ISIS from Ramadi, the work of making the city safe is just beginning.

Business

The Air Force’s Next Chief Might Be Its Space-War General

Gen. John Hyten has never flown a warplane, but he plays a role in just about every Air Force mission.

Business

Carter Seeks New Powers for Joint Chiefs, Top Commanders in War on Terrorism

Obama’s defense secretary unveils his Goldwater-Nichols reform plan, and the most sweeping changes to the military's top command in a generation.

Business

Giddy Among Fellow Nerds, Carter Pitches Pentagon Work to Techies

The defense secretary takes his outreach tour to robotics labs and startup centers in Austin and Boston.

Business

Carter Watches PBS on Fridays, and Other Bombshells from His Email

SecDef's redacted private messages reveal — gasp! — Washington insiders asking about jobs for friends and challenge coins for their kids.

Business

Seeking to Boost Its Public Image, F-35 Joins the Airshow Circuit

Program officials are trying to improve popular perceptions of the late, over-budget Joint Strike Fighter.

Business

This Painfully Honest Look at the Space Industry Just Got an Executive Fired

The engineering chief of the nation’s largest rocket-launch firm got a little too candid during a recent talk at his alma mater.

Business

Is The Government Getting Stingier With Cyber Threat Data?

Virginia Tech's network security chief thinks so. He says overclassification is making it harder to prep and respond.

Science & Tech

Skunk Works Chief: How To Keep America’s Airborne Advantage

Regular updates to the F-22 and F-35, says Lockheed’s Weiss, plus a deep commitment to chasing the game-changing tech of the future.

Ideas

Do ‘Guardian Forces’ Belong in the Military?

More and more national security workers in and out of uniform never get close to combat. It's time to rethink their place in the system.

Policy

If Trump Wins, Expect Thousands of Defense Jobs to Move to Europe

The GOP frontrunner's anti-Muslim comments could prompt U.S. allies to shop elsewhere for arms.

Business

The Pentagon's New Grading System for Civilians May Take Even Longer to Get Started

Six years after Congress mandated it, the U.S. military says it's ready to test a new way to assess its civilian workers. But a federal union claims the test-run will be deeply flawed.

Business

Obama's Security Clearance Overhaul Lands with a Thud Before Lawmakers

The plan, which tasks the Pentagon with safeguarding new investigations, appears to just be 'window dressing on a broken home.'

Business

Boeing Shakes Up Defense Leadership Week After Losing Bomber Deal

Leanne Caret, a 28-year veteran at Boeing has been elected the new CEO of Boeing’s defense business replacing Chris Chadwick who will quickly retire.