Defense Systems

Navy awards $89M contract for submarine communications

Raytheon will deliver 25 of the high data rate systems for Navy and U.K. subs.

Defense Systems

Lab is making Star Trek's transparent armor a reality

It's not precisely transparent aluminum, but NRL's ceramic spinel has the same properties and is a potential game-changer for military and commercial uses.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Sets Up a Silicon Valley Outpost

Can Ash Carter enlist a tech community spooked by spying and allergic to bureaucracy?

Science & Tech

House Passes Blockbuster Cybersecurity Bill

Despite fears that the measure could bolster the NSA's spying power, it cleared the lower chamber by a wide margin.

Science & Tech

The Army Is Testing Handheld Ray Guns

Fittingly, these rifle-sized weapons would gun for other electronics.

Ideas

Make Manpower Matter

If the Pentagon wants good people, it needs to put good people in the top Personnel slot.

Threats

Who Are the Houthis?

The Iranian-backed Shia militia toppled Yemen's government and has sparked civil war. Here's how they came to power.

Business

Veterans Sue the VA Over Access to Medical Records

Some veterans are upset they're having to waiting hundreds of days just to advance the process of applying for combat-related compensation.

Policy

New McConnell Bill Would Extend NSA's Domestic Surveillance Through 2020

The measure aims to restore a core provision of the USA Patriot Act that would permit the bulk collection of U.S. phone records beyond the next presidential term.

Policy

McCain: New ISIS War Powers Request 'Is Not Going Anywhere'

There never was much political incentive for anyone in Washington to officially declare war against the Islamic State group.

Defense Systems

How technology has changed intelligence collection

Advancements have enabled signals intelligence to supersede relying on human sources in the field, but progress has come with shortcomings of its own.

Defense Systems

Squid-inspired 'invisibility stickers' provide night-vision camo

Researchers make a tape that could render soldiers invisible under infrared light.

Defense Systems

DARPA wants to plumb the depths of an underwater Internet

The agency is looking for technologies to expand high-bandwidth communications and networking below the surface.

Policy

How Vladimir Putin Weaponized Russia's Media

After decades of wielding Soviet-style hard power, Moscow is developing a subtler form of influence.

Policy

The Senator Who Might Scuttle NSA Reform

Without the backing of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, the USA Freedom Act will likely stall in the Senate, where last year it fell two votes short.

Business

Defense Contractors Unsatisfied with Thornberry's Acquisition Bill

A contractor's trade group representing some 400 companies say Rep. Mac Thornberry's acquisition reform bill further complicates an already complicated process.

Science & Tech

These Robots Are Stranded Inside a Nuclear Disaster

This month, a Tokyo utility company sent two specially-designed robots on an ill-fated mission into the Fukushima nuclear disaster site to assess the damage.