Science & Tech

The Pentagon Wants to Buy That Bomb You’re Building in the Garage

DARPA will pay tinkerers to weaponize off-the-shelf items — in hopes of defending against such hacks.

Ideas

Hey, America: Don’t Forget Your Soldiers While Spending Billions on Future Weapons

AUSA President Gordon Sullivan describes what a smaller, busier Army means for American power, global instability, and the troops themselves.

Ideas

Why Does Obama Fight Wars He Deems Unwinnable?

The uncertainty he projects about his policies undermine the half-hearted military efforts he undertakes.

Ideas

An Isolationist President, In Love With Drones and Special Forces

Obama’s no realist; history suggests little promise for the path he has chosen for the U.S.

Ideas

The End of the US-Dominated Order in the Middle East

Critics say the Obama doctrine has given Russia the upper hand in the region; the president says Moscow’s welcome to try to use it.

Defense Systems

DARPA wants a leg-up on off-the-shelf weapons

The agency's Improv program is interested how people can use commercial technology to threaten U.S. military personnel.

Defense Systems

Boeing's new autonomous UUV can run for months at a time

The 51-foot long unmanned Echo Voyager, which runs on a rechargeable power system, can operate without a surface support vessel.

Ideas

The Hidden Costs of Obama's Vision of American Power

Grand strategies are judged by their consequences, not by their intentions, and in the Middle East the consequences are not looking pretty.

Ideas

In Defense of the Obama Doctrine

Obama is still trying to win Washington over to American power as he sees it: limiting military interventions while convening players for peace.

Ideas

Obama's 'Red Line' That Wasn't

Inside the president’s last-minute decision not to bomb Syria in 2013.

Ideas

The Obama Doctrine

The U.S. president talks through his hardest decisions about America’s role in the world.

Science & Tech

F-35 Chief: Think Very, Very Hard Before Making Another Joint Fighter

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan has a bit of advice for Air Force and Navy leaders envisioning their next tactical aircraft.

Defense Systems

DARPA looks to tap social media, big data to probe the causes of social unrest

The Next Generation Social Science program seeks to harness digital connections to identify "the primary drivers of social cooperation, instability and resilience."

Science & Tech

Let’s Talk About the Federal Drones Flying Over US Soil

An alphabet soup’s worth of government agencies are exercising their ability to look down on ordinary citizens.

Ideas

US Ballistic Missile Defense Needs A Boost

Amid ominous tests by Iran and North Korea, why is the Missile Defense Agency’s budget shrinking?

Defense Systems

Endgame cyber solution proves useful for Air Force at Red Flag

The commercial tool has been effective in hunting and securing networks during the Air Force’s two most recent large-scale exercises.

Defense Systems

Army, Silicon Valley to tackle social media challenge

As part of DOD's effort to collaborate with industry and academia, two projects will work on how to counter adversaries’ malicious use of social media.