Threats
A Bewildering Briefing on the Iranian Threat Leaves More Questions Than Answers
A deputy commander of the counter-ISIS coalition appeared to rebut White House claims about Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
Defense Systems
DOD’s $8.2 billion back-office cloud contract expected this summer
A winner on the $8.2 billion Defense Enterprise Office Solutions procurement is expected to be announced this summer, with integration and initial testing planned for the fall.
Science & Tech
Moscow to Weave AI Face Recognition into Its Urban Surveillance Net
City authorities say the planned system will have access to all 160,000 existing cameras.
Policy
Under Pressure, Pentagon Publishes a Contractor-Fraud Report
Released under FOIA, the 4-page document names firms barred from government work, but lacks the detail of a predecessor report.
Ideas
Russia Has Americans’ Weaknesses All Figured Out
Election interference is one front in Moscow’s larger campaign to undermine the U.S. without prompting a military response.
Business
US, Poland to Discuss Potential F-35 Sale, Air Force Secretary Says
Warsaw’s eagerness to buy the Joint Strike Fighter came up during Heather Wilson’s April visit to Poland.
Defense Systems
New defense cyber commission plans for future threats
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said the newly established Cyberspace Solarium Commission is getting its structure sorted before diving into debating three visions for defending U.S. interests in cyberspace.
Threats
What’s Great Power Competition? No One Really Knows
It’s the “trillion-dollar question,” one Marine Corps planner says.
Defense Systems
Air Force slows roll out of new cyber career category
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced delays to plans for new career categories and promotion paths, including in cybersecurity.
Science & Tech
'Siri, Watch That Guy': Pentagon Seeks AI that Can Track Someone Across a City
The intel community's researchers are looking for datasets to help train their computers.
Ideas
Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Won’t Make Iran Yield
The one thing Tehran would find more intolerable than the crushing impact of sanctions is raising the white flag because of them.
Ideas
How to Really Honor the Troops
Thousands of soldiers have successfully led combat units without committing atrocities. Pardoning war crimes dishonors them.
Ideas
The Brain of the Pentagon
Andrew Marshall leaves behind an American tradition of strategic thinking that will live well beyond him.
Science & Tech
Engineers Pitch Clean-Energy Plants Along Border
A proposal imagines how building solar panels and wind turbines along the U.S.-Mexico border could unite calls for a Green New Deal and a border wall.
Science & Tech
Pentagon ‘Matchmakers’ Aim to Keep US Tech Firms from Taking Chinese Money
Defense officials hope to protect cutting-edge technologies by getting innovative firms funded by U.S.-friendly investors.
Ideas
Some Cautionary Notes on the New ‘Knife Missile’
Will the blade-wielding Hellfire variant actually reduce civilian casualties? Maybe.
Defense Systems
DOD considers releasing list of blocked software vendors
The Defense Department is working with congressional constraints on information it can share with defense industrial base regarding restricted vendors.
Ideas