Science & Tech

Meet the US Air Force's 1st Chief Experience Officer

The service hired digital consultant Colt Whittall to improve the digital tools that airmen use to fix things and fight.

Ideas

The US Is Trying to Restore Deterrence in the Gulf. That Won’t be Enough

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a security dilemma. Here are some potential ways out.

Ideas

The US Government Keeps Too Many Secrets

American officials classify too much information, from the trivial to the politically inconvenient. The overreliance on secrecy invites abuse.

Threats

US Customs Officer Harasses Defense One Journalist at Dulles Airport

Repeating “You write propaganda, right?”, officer held passport until he received an affirmative answer.

Business

New Tech Aims to Tell Pilots When Their Plane Has Been Hacked

Raytheon is pitching a product to detect cyber intrusions into aircraft, drones, and even missiles.

Threats

China, Russia Deepen Technological Ties

With joint dialogues, incubators, and technology parks, Beijing and Moscow are seeking to overcome deficiencies and compete with the United States.

Science & Tech

The Future of the Marines Is Smaller, More Robotic, More Naval

The new Commandant of the Marine Corps lays out a vision for high-tech force that will often operate like special forces.

Policy

Pentagon’s Top Lawyer to Review All Ukraine-Aid Documents

But a DoD spokesman still won’t say when the department was told about the aid freeze at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

Ideas

A National-Security Problem Without Parallel in American Democracy

Democrats — candidates and lawmakers alike — should make it clear that they will impose consequences on any country that meddles with voting.

Ideas

The Hidden Damage of Trump’s Secret War in Somalia

Terrorist activity is not discernably declining, even as U.S. military activity and alleged civilian deaths rise.

Defense Systems

Background checks move to DOD

The government’s background investigations agency with some 3,000 employees has moved from the Office of Personnel Management to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

Science & Tech

It's Official: The Pentagon Now Runs the Security Clearance Process

The newly renamed Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency now handles 95% of the government’s background investigations.

Ideas

Democrats Should Not Give New Nukes to a President They Want to Impeach

National security concerns about Trump are only the latest reason Sen. Jack Reed should kill the new sub-launched warhead.

Ideas

The Strangely Quiet Visit of Germany’s New Defense Minister

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s do-little trip to Washington shows the uncertain state of U.S.-German relations.