Defense Systems

ARL, TARDEC work to defeat laser threats that could blind soldiers

Wavelength-diverse lasers, which are difficult to filter out, could be used to blind tank gunners and attack soldiers’ eyesight.

Defense Systems

Army moving enterprise apps to core data centers

The migration also involves removing unused and redundant applications.

Policy

Lawmakers Want Answers on the Effects of Iraq and Afghanistan's Burn Pits

Some veterans feel the health impacts of Iraq and Afghanistan burn pit exposure demand more study. Some lawmakers aren't giving up on the issue either. By Jordain Carney

Business

Is the U.S. Ready to Patrol the Arctic?

A sobering look at America's ice-cutter fleet as it prepares to chair the 8-nation Arctic Council next year. By Marina Koren

Ideas

Why the Next 'Great War' Won't Happen on China's Doorstep

Today’s rising China is nothing like the threat that rising Germany posed to Europe in 1914. Here's why. By Michael Hunzeker and Mark Christopher

Science & Tech

How the CIA Partnered With Amazon and Changed Intelligence

Amazon is building a cloud for the intelligence community that could bridge the sort of gaps that preceded the 9/11 attacks. By Frank Konkel

Ideas

A Chance to Drive a Wedge Between Jihadists and Sunnis

ISIL’s overreach into Iraq is Washington’s opportunity to shift Sunni allegiances for good. By Dave Miller

Threats

Despite Pentagon Concerns, Obama Requests No New Military for Border Threat

White House agrees the root causes of the border crisis threaten national security, but says the mission is not the military’s. By Molly O’Toole

Defense Systems

3D bioprinting: Repairing burns, other traumatic injuries with new cells

Army researchers, part of a consortium of universities, hospitals and others, work on printing healthy cells onto serious wounds.

Defense Systems

Watch: DARPA unveils guided bullets

Special .50-caliber bullets are able to change course mid-flight and hit offset targets

Threats

How to Punish the Banks that Fund Terrorists

Terrorist financiers will have a harder time laundering money after France's largest bank agreed to an historic settlement for processing transactions from officials in a number of U.S-sanctioned countries. By Jonathan Masters

Business

VA Reform's Surprising 19th Century Roots

Congress's proposal to fix the broken agency risks returning America back to its patronage-job system of President James Garfield's day. By Norm Ornstein

Threats

ISIL Is Taking Iraq's Black Gold to the Black Market

The narrative of a ruthlessly managed, financially savvy rebel group just got a new chapter. By Steve LeVine

Ideas

How to Fix the Government's Security Clearance Mess

We need to continuously monitor who has top secret clearance. Here’s how. By Steve Nguyen

Policy

Special Operations Commander Says Burden On Elite Troops Is Here to Stay

Obama’s nominee to command special operations troops said more should be done to help alleviate the stresses on families of more than 13 years of frontline combat. By Ben Watson

Threats

When Millennials Intifada: The New Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Today's young adults see the fighting -- and chance for peace -- much differently than their elders. By Jeff Moskowitz

Threats

Hagel Declares ISIL Clear and 'Imminent Threat’ To U.S.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warns Americans – and skeptical lawmakers – that the extremists carving up Iraq and Syria threaten ‘every stabilized country on Earth.’ By Ben Watson

Defense Systems

Chinese hackers hit federal employee database

OPM, which manages security clearance investigations for federal workers and the military, was attacked in March.

Defense Systems

A prosthetic for the brain could restore a soldier’s lost memory

DARPA and two university teams are working to develop brain implants that restore memory in patients who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Defense Systems

ARL finds new ways to measure the fog of war

To build a better smoke grenade, the Army’s EETRANS can measure how obscurants transmit visual, infrared waves.