Defense Systems

DISA mulls small businesses for National Gateway Center support

The agency is looking for engineering and hardware and software services in support of its cross-domain messaging system.

Ideas

Counterterrorism's False Trade-off Between Security and Freedom

Fighting terrorism across the globe involves a dangerous paradox: the better it works, the less we appreciate the need for it.

Ideas

1.3 Billion People Are the Real Losers of India, Pakistan Extremism

More than 70 years of violence has consistently left the citizens of each nation out to dry.

Ideas

Why Do Top Government Personnel Keep Using Private Email for Official Business?

As government breaches continue, it's hard to argue that 'security' alone is a good enough reason to keep official communication on official servers.

Business

Meet the New Army General in Charge of the ISIS War

Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland is now commanding the counter-ISIS campaign; Officials name Nagata’s successor at SOCOM Central.

Ideas

Kunduz, War Crimes, and the Real Laws of War

The U.S. should embrace an independent investigation of the tragic Afghanistan hospital strike to shed light—and facts—on the laws of war.

Ideas

Why It Matters That Carter Says Iraq Raid Isn't Combat, Then Says It Is

We may not be a nation at war, but U.S. special operators are fighting. And their raids against ISIS most certainly are combat.

Science & Tech

A New Material Promises NSA-Proof Wallpaper

A Utah company has a new nickel-carbon material that could help the Pentagon fight off some of its most haunting threats.

Policy

The Benghazi Committee's Missed Chance at Clinton's Real Record

Both sides pledged they wouldn’t. Both went after each other anyway.

Business

Meet the Secretive Team Shaping the Air Force’s New Bomber

The 80-person group operates outside of the typical chain of command, which senior officials say will keep the stealth aircraft program on track.

Defense Systems

Navy is on to the next phase of laser weapons

ONR awards Northrop a potentially $91 million contract to develop a more powerful directed-energy system.

Defense Systems

Army unsheathes Excalibur supercomputer

The 3.7 petaflop Cray Xc40 machine greatly boosts processing power at the Defense Supercomputing Resource Center.

Science & Tech

Pentagon: State Doesn’t Have Enough People Tweeting At ISIS

In the war of online influence, the U.S. is gaining ground but is still hopelessly outmanned.

Threats

Obama Vetoes Defense Policy Bill; Now What?

A partisan proxy war escalates as Obama fulfills his vow to send the annual defense policy bill back to lawmakers.

Ideas

As Jihadis Gather in Libya, Tunisia Struggles To Fend Them Off

Libyan militants are aggressively recruiting Tunisians, promising a closer fight than Syria — and threatening a Mideast ‘beacon.’

Business

Obama Vetoes Bill Affecting Troop Pay and Benefits

The legislation includes a 1.3 percent pay raise in 2016 for service members and changes to the military retirement system.

Threats

US Soldier Dies in Action in Iraq, the First Since 2011

An American soldier was killed in an operation involving U.S. and Kurdish commandos on an Islamic State base in northern Iraq.

Ideas

This Is the Only Cyber Security Plan Any 2016 Candidate Has Offered

Jeb Bush is a true hawk when it comes to U.S. cyber defense. But only a modest portion of his proposals could be called new.

Threats

Does Russia Have War Bots in Space?

Moscow’s latest satellites might be bashing into other orbiting things — on purpose.