Defense Systems

Sub-T challenge draws underground drone explorers

Drones of every stripe crawled and flew through mine shafts in DARPA’s latest subterranean technology competition.

Ideas

Insurance Companies Are Fueling Ransomware Attacks

Even when public agencies and companies hit by ransomware could recover their files on their own, insurers prefer to pay the ransom. Why? The attacks are good for business.

Ideas

Meet the Coalition Pushing for 'Cyber Peace' Rules

A growing group of governments and NGOs is trying to figure out what limits can and should apply to online attack, defense, and behavior.

Science & Tech

How AI Will Predict Chinese and Russian Moves in the Pacific

As Pacific Air Forces builds a picture of normal traffic, they'll start looking for suspicious patterns — and even predict what's coming.

Science & Tech

US Testing Autonomous Border-Patrol Drones

Planck Aerosystems gets funding to try its small rotorcraft in operational environments over the next three to six months.

Ideas

Welcome to the New Phase of US-China Tech Competition

The previous era entwined the two economies. This one is splitting them apart.

Ideas

Executing the US Africa Strategy, At Sea

By helping African nations improve maritime security ops, we are helping create the conditions that lead to a prosperous, self-reliant future.

Science & Tech

What Russian Chatbots Think About Us

A Russian experiment with AI-powered chatbots yields surprisingly sophisticated conversations — and a warning.

Science & Tech

DHS Seeks Standards for 'Smart City' Sensors, Starting in St. Louis

Public-safety IoT devices promise to help cities dispatch and direct first-responders and other municipal agencies — if the devices can talk to each other.

Threats

With Suicides at Record Highs, Pentagon Unveils New Plan

DoD and VA leaders have been hampered by turnover and poor management in both departments.

Ideas

Women Help Prevent Terrorism. Congress Should Encourage the Pentagon to Pay Attention

Here’s a list of related House provisions that should be part of 2020's final authorization bill.

Ideas

Why Hong Kong Protesters Are Sawing Down Sensor-Laden Lampposts

The government confirms that the hardware could spy on citizens, but says protesters’ fears are unfounded.

Ideas

The Man Who Couldn’t Take It Anymore

“I had no choice but to leave,” James Mattis says of his decision to resign as President Trump’s secretary of defense.

Defense Systems

How the Army is advancing facial recognition

The Army's C5ISR Center has been operating a facial recognition system that uses a mix of web-based biometrics tools to help identify suspicious actors for Central Command.

Defense Systems

Pentagon awards $8 billion cloud business contract

The Defense Enterprise Office Solutions contract will move as many as 3.15 million DOD users and systems to the Microsoft Office 365 platform.

Ideas

Happy Birthday, Nuclear Arms Race

If we remember how we could have stopped it, we may yet find a way to do so.

Threats

Alleged Israeli Strikes Bring US to Crossroads in Iraq

The Pentagon is worried that attacks on Iran-linked targets could damage its relationship with Baghdad. But what does the White House want?