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.
Science & Tech
How the US Air Force is Rapidly Mobilizing For Cyber War
New ideas about defense and new tables of organization are reshaping the service’s ideas about battle.
Defense Systems
Air Force moves ahead with GPS III preparations
The service gives Lockheed Martin a $395 million contract modification for work on the ninth and tenth of the 32-satellite constellation.
Ideas