Ideas

How Not to Announce a Ship Deployment

A simple press conference could have avoided 36 hours of confusion and fears of war with Iran.

Science & Tech

US Military Testing Whether Human Pilots Can Trust Robot Wingmen in a Dogfight

DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution program aims to find out — and so shape America’s future arsenal.

Science & Tech

The Pentagon Still Buys Software Like It's 1987

The Defense Innovation Board recently discovered that a 32-year-old report "pretty much said it all."

Defense Systems

Navy considers penalties for bad cyber behavior

The Navy is looking at punitive measures for careless users to get them to take basic cyber hygiene seriously.

Threats

The Many Ways Iran Could Target the United States

The White House is citing unspecified threats from Iran. The specifics are murky, but the potential for escalation is real.

Science & Tech

Don’t Expect the US Military’s Next Fighter to Be Joint

While the Navy’s and Air Force’s next tactical jet might share some capabilities, a Navy official says, they won’t share an airframe.

Science & Tech

Admiral: The US Is ‘Operating Blind’ In the Arctic

The Navy needs more weather data to better operate in the cold northern seas.

Ideas

Trump’s Iran Policy Is Counterproductive

It makes no sense to punish allies in Europe while shoring up hardliners in Tehran.

Ideas

A Boom Time for US Sanctions

The explosive growth in their use has prompted questions about how much is too much.

Ideas

Europe Should Do More for Regional Security — Starting with Libya

Allied “burden-sharing” ought not be about financial benchmarks, but about U.S. partners’ investment in their own regions’ security.

Science & Tech

Robots and Lasers Are Bringing Shipbuilding into the Digital Age

Even decades-old aircraft carriers are being mapped onto digital models at Newport News Shipbuilding.

Defense Systems

Army innovation lab tests coders on the battlefield

The Army's newly launched Army Applications Laboratory is working to expand ability for soldiers to code in the field to repair communications systems.

Ideas

Once Again, Trump Fails to Press Putin on Electoral Interference

No one in government other than Trump denies the Russian attack. That makes his May 3 phone call even more surreal.

Threats

Pentagon Shifts Much Classroom Training to Another Federal Agency

The Office of Personnel Management will use the Defense Department learn how employees learn and where more training is needed.

Science & Tech

DIU Is Helping the US Army Field More Backpack-Sized Drones

The Pentagon’s internal startup accelerator wants to get consumer quadcopters in the hands of soldiers in a matter of months, not years.

Defense Systems

Defense software budget may get streamlined in 2020

Defense Department acquisition head, Ellen Lord, hopes to simplify software buying and improve business systems following the release of the Defense Innovation Board's final software acquisition study.

Defense Systems

Who's accountable for the $20B defense health IT overhaul?

Despite pressure from Congress, DOD and VA don't appear to be racing to name a single point of accountability to lead the electronic health records transformation at the two agencies.

Defense Systems

Air Force Lab wants wearables to monitor warfighter health

The Air Force Research Lab teamed with a biosensor startup to develop implanted sensors that would allow medical personnel to continuously monitor troops for indications of a potential illness.