Defense Systems
DOD gets to work on Defense Production Act needs
DOD to issue $133 million in production contracts for N95 masks under the Defense Production Act.
Defense Systems
Pentagon fast-tracks prototyping contracts
Ellen Lord, DOD's acquisition head, issued new guidance for prototype contracts issued through other transaction authorities.
Defense Systems
Navy CIO is unbothered by leadership shakeups
The Navy CIO updated the workforce on telework practices, COVID-19 disclosures and what the change in service leadership means for the tech mission.
Science & Tech
SPECIAL REPORT: The Problem With Coronavirus Models Is How We Talk About Them
Despite what political leaders want them to say, COVID-19 models will become less predictive exactly when we need them most.
Policy
Pentagon IG: We Can’t Rule Out White House Influence on JEDI Award
A 300-page investigation reveals multiple ethics violations and a refusal by Defense Department General Counsel to let senior officials comment on communications with the White House.
Science & Tech
Pentagon Isn't Following the Cyber Steps It Asks from Suppliers, GAO Says
The Defense Department has yet to fully implement multiple initiatives to track and improve cyber defenses.
Ideas
Don't Be Fooled. Trump’s Cuts to WHO Aren’t About the Coronavirus
Republicans have been hating on international organizations for decades. This is just a convenient excuse to take another shot, and it harms American security.
Ideas
The Coronavirus Shows How US ‘Diplomacy’ Is Anything But
Absolutist, America-first approaches isolate us and make us less safe.
Threats
Did the Coronavirus Escape from a Chinese Lab? Here’s What the Pentagon Says
Gen. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, directly addressed ‘rumor and speculation’ that COVID-19 is a made-in-China weapon of war.
Ideas
The US Should Help Iran Get the Coronavirus Under Control
Easing sanctions will help confront a global pandemic and win back some goodwill from ordinary beleaguered Iranians.
Business
Pentagon Orders 60 Machines that Disinfect Desperately Needed N95 Masks
Each Battelle-made machine can clean up to 80,000 masks per day, allowing healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients to reuse them up to 20 times.
Science & Tech
How the Coronavirus Forced the Pentagon to Improve Its IT — and Quickly
New teleworking capabilities — hastily installed to help DoD get work done at home — will stick around after the virus subsides.
Policy
Republicans Seek to Punish China for Coronavirus as Trump Waffles
“Having the relationship I have with China is a good thing,” Trump says. But Republicans say China needs to “pay a price.”
Ideas
Ep. 66: The 1918 flu and the U.S. military
How the U.S. military was battered by, and slowly learned from, the influenza pandemic of 1918.
Ideas
Where is NATO? And Where is Trump?
The virus is destroying economies and paralyzing societies in ways Russian military planners could only dream.
Science & Tech
Pentagon Supercomputers Puzzle Out How to Safely Airlift Coronavirus Patients
And that's just one of the various pandemic-related problems that Defense Department supercomputers are chewing on.
Ideas