Defense Systems

ARL, UK collaboration: Distributed analytics will aid coalition forces

An alliance that also includes industry and academia embarks on a research project to ensure secure, dynamic coalition communications through Distributed Analytics and Information Science, or DAIS.

Defense Systems

Navy awards $350M in contracts for Triton UAS program

Northrop is to produce three low-rate initial production systems for the high-altitude surveillance drones, ticketed for persistent surveillance missions in the Pacific.

Defense Systems

Navy selects five to support Maritime Global Command and Control System

The companies will provide systems engineering, software support and other services for GCCS-M, which gives commanders an integrated, multilayered common operating picture.

Business

U.S. Air Force Preps a Controversial No-Bid Purchase of Spy Planes

Lawmakers balk at replacing aging EC-130Hs with smaller Gulfstream G550s without open competition.

Ideas

Unplug, Soldier! Too Much Online Time is Hurting the Army

A West Point scholar says team bonding — the bedrock of military effectiveness — is being undermined by electronic distractions.

Defense Systems

ONR sets sail for first Unmanned Warrior exercise

Britain is hosting the inaugural event with NATO allies involving unmanned, autonomous surface, underwater and air vehicles.

Ideas

Beating Terror, Indonesian Style

Jakarta’s battle against Islamic terrorist groups has seen improvisation and missteps, but also five key factors.

Ideas

On the Cyber Frontier, Hacking Back is Ethical — and Even Desirable

Governments could treat retaliatory cyberattacks as ‘frontier' incidents, which are not necessarily escalatory.

Ideas

Rein in the National Security Council

Created as a coordinating body, the NSC has become a policymaking powerhouse whose White House status hides it from oversight.

Science & Tech

Report: Weapons AI Increasingly Replacing, Not Augmenting, Human Decision Making

A new survey of existing and planned smart weapons finds that AI is increasingly used to replace humans, not help them.

Ideas

Yemen Has Become the Graveyard of the Obama Doctrine

The human costs of facilitating Saudi Arabia’s proxy war have been enormous, and there’s no end in sight.

Threats

Maritime Tensions Grow Between Rising China and Rearming Japan

The most dangerous flashpoint in the South China Sea could be a Japanese warship, not a disputed isle.

Defense Systems

High anxiety: US needs resilient satellites, nets to avoid a space crisis

A new assessment highlights the potential for an instability crisis in space as the United States and China vie for the high ground.

Policy

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS ‘Will Fight to the Death’ for Mosul, Says Top Peshmerga General

The Kurds’ chief of staff, who dreams of Kurdish independence, hopes the American military stays long after Mosul.