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

The Folly of Tactical Nuclear Weapons

Some soothsayers say they boost deterrence. But the point of deterrence is to have no mushroom clouds, not new, tailor-made ones.

Science & Tech

Soon, DHS Will Have Eyes on Computer Vulnerabilities Across the Government

A governmentwide software dashboard is launching this month.

Ideas

Rex Tillerson Must Go

If he does remain, it will be yet another sign of the collapse of self-respect among those who are now willing to serve in senior positions in government.

Defense Systems

Wired clothing could save troops from frostbite and bulky gear

The Natick Army Research Center in Massachusetts is working on a nanowire heating technology to keep soldiers warm with less bulk.

Defense Systems

DOD launches aggressive new cloud migration effort

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has directed a new cloud migration acquisition initiative which calls for greater collaboration with the private sector and expedited technology development.