Threats
DHS details how AI could amplify biological, chemical threats
While access to laboratory facilities is still a hurdle, a new report notes that cloud labs could allow the stealthy development of weapons components.
Policy
Senate advances 2% raise for defense civilians, 4.5% for military
An unusual White House proposal to give different raises drew early fire, but lawmakers are passing up opportunities to do anything about it.
Business
The price of each B-21 bomber is likely going up
The Air Force has agreed to a higher cost ceiling after Northrop took a loss on fixed-price lots.
Defense Systems
Pentagon background-check systems at risk of hacking, GAO says
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency didn’t fully implement DOD’s cybersecurity process, a new report finds.
Threats
US blacklists Kaspersky software over alleged Kremlin ties
The Commerce Department says its products could expose sensitive data; company denies it.
Science & Tech
Two startups join forces to make self-flying tankers, dogfighting AI, and more
Merlin Labs, which aims to test an AI-powered KC-135 within a year, is to buy F-16 AI driver EpiSci.
Defense Systems
Army hopes digital models in contracts can help industry deliver faster and better
The service is also planning to test generative AI.
Science & Tech
How AI is turning satellite imagery into a window on the future
What can a picture from space tell you? “You're likely to have a drought here that might lead to civil unrest.”
Ideas
NATO's Article 5 isn't as ironclad as many think
Alliance commitments are not quite as binding, either legally or politically, as the conventional wisdom suggests.
Threats
Nine takeaways from ProPublica's investigation into Microsoft’s cybersecurity failures
A whistleblower repeatedly tried to get the tech giant to fix a security flaw that left millions of users exposed—including contractors, the State Department, and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Defense Systems
Ultrasecure comms could give special operators a leg up
U.S., Norwegian commands team up to test a quantum-communications prototype.
Ideas
The Day Private Willie Mays Threw Out My Dad
Two lives intersect in a story of baseball, military service, and American society in the Korean War era.
Policy
What will happen to the Air Force’s next-gen fighter jet?
The service may be waffling on NGAD because it’s dealing with a “truly miserable choice,” one analyst said.
Ideas
Climate change is a threat, not a distraction, to the US military
We’ve got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Ideas
Little fanfare as US upgrades Cuba to 'fully cooperating' with anti-terror efforts
But the mid-May move may presage wider rapprochement – if politics allows.
Ideas