Threats
In Ukraine, the US Trains an Army in the West to Fight in the East
For more than two years, some 300 American soldiers have been quietly helping train an enormous partner military in western Ukraine.
Science & Tech
North Korea Is Testing Not Just Bombs, But the Entire Global Nuclear Monitoring System
It is a miracle of statecraft and science that this collaborative international infrastructure has actually come into being.
Science & Tech
The White House's Cyber Tool Wish List
Acting Federal Chief Information Security Officer Grant Schneider pushed for tools that are easy to use but can share threat data in real time.
Science & Tech
Get Lasers Into the Field Faster, Lawmakers Tell the Pentagon
The Senate’s version of the annual defense bill provides $200 million for rapid prototyping of directed energy weapons.
Science & Tech
General Motors Wants to Disrupt the Military Truck Market
Building on its hydrogen fuel cell-powered pickup truck for the Army, the automaker will soon unveil a self-powered mobile chassis.
Science & Tech
DHS Forms Election Security Task Force
The new task force will draw resources from across the Department of Homeland Security, including intelligence analysis.
Ideas
Why Tactical Nuclear Weapons Are Still A Thing
In the debate over low-yield nukes, opposing camps are largely talking past each other. Here are some thoughts about why they remain necessary.
Defense Systems
Army tests helicopter-based, tube-launched UAVs
The service hopes to field autonomous drones from its rotor-wing aircraft.
Policy
The US Will Be Dropping A Lot More Bombs on Afghanistan
More air support for Afghan forces will help drive the Taliban to the negotiating table, Mattis and Dunford tell Congress.
Ideas
The Pentagon Has the World’s Largest Logistics Problem. Blockchain Can Help
DoD should join other logistics-heavy organizations in experimenting with the cryptography-messaging-accounting technology that powers Bitcoin.
Defense Systems
Soldiers get upgraded, cloud-centered AKO platform
The Army is modernizing its Army Knowledge Online portal to consolidate data centers, move to the cloud and increase the range of soldier driven functions on the system.
Defense Systems
Navy accelerates Orca undersea drone program
The Navy has narrowed the field of competitors for one of its unmanned underwater drone programs to a Boeing-Huntington Ingalls team and Lockheed Martin team amid expectations of increased spending in that area.
Ideas
Closing the Taliban’s Office in Qatar Would Be a Historic Mistake
With no military solution in Afghanistan, the US needs credible interlocutors to end the war — like the ones who secured the Bergdahl deal.
Threats
Turkey Opens Its Largest Overseas Military Base in Somalia
The military base in Somalia is also a reminder that despite Turkey’s growing regional and national problems, Africa remains central to its global expansion strategy.
Science & Tech
DARPA-Funded Radar Lets Planes See Through Smoke and Clouds
A promising approach to a decades-old quandary: how to get a clear field of view to the ground?
Science & Tech