Policy
Defense Bill Compromise Boosts 2018 Military Pay Raise
Democrats vow a fight for civilian pay parity.
Policy
Paying Off Post-9/11 War Debt Could Cost $8 Trillion: Report
Analysts say a reckoning is coming — even as Republicans seek tax cuts that will add at least $1.5 trillion to the national debt.
Ideas
DoD is Losing the Budget Endgame
Lawmakers have prioritized tax cuts, and now there’s just one way left for the defense budget to recover.
Ideas
What McCain Knows That Kelly Forgot
One veteran offered a dark picture of a nation estranged from its military—the other, a more hopeful vision of a future brighter than the past.
Business
Top Defense CEO Blasts Washington Budget Gridlock
‘National security is not an entitlement,” said Michael Strianese, chairman and CEO of L3 Technologies.
Policy
Mattis to Generals: Start Talking to the Press
Nine months into the Trump administration, the defense secretary tells senior military leaders to engage with the media — but stay in their lanes.
Science & Tech
Get Lasers Into the Field Faster, Lawmakers Tell the Pentagon
The Senate’s version of the annual defense bill provides $200 million for rapid prototyping of directed energy weapons.
Business
Air Force: We’re Low on Bombs Because Congress Can’t Pass a Budget
It’s hard to persuade arms makers to boost production, even to fight ISIS, without cash on the barrelhead.
Ideas
Winter Is Here, But the US is Not Ready for Cyber War
How can DHS and Congress protect HBO and Equifax when they're slow to protect their own '.gov' domains?
Policy
Get Ready for a Short-Term CR, Congressional Leaders Tell Pentagon
Top House Republicans on defense say it’s not ideal — underfunding has contributed to a rash of recent accidents — but don’t expect a full-year appropriation until December.
Policy
Chasing the Elusive BRAC, Pentagon Says Readiness Is at Stake
Defense officials are changing their pitch for base closures. Will Congress listen this time?
Policy
Defense Contractors Begin Early Shutdown Preparations
Private firms are already ahead of the government in their planning, experts say.
Policy
Trump’s Transgender Troop Ban Sparks An Instant Opposition of Unusual Allies
The commander in chief tweet-declares a stunning change for military personnel, but it’s far from clear he can make it stick.
Policy
Why John McCain Matters More than the GOP Realizes
Without McCain, Republicans have no clear leader on defense issues. Not that they ever listen to him, anyway.
Policy
Cuts Proposed for Key Cybersecurity Agency
House Appropriations Committee reduces but retains White House cuts to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Science & Tech
The US Isn’t Going To Launch a Military Space Corps—For Now
The effort still sends a message that the U.S. is concerned about the orbital military aspirations of geopolitical rivals like China and Russia.
Ideas
Make It Easier for Americans to Support Military Missions Abroad
Our nonprofit organization helped US commanders provide IED detectors to Iraqis confronting ISIS. Now Congress can make it a model for agile public-private partnerships.
Ideas
We Need to Focus on Space; We Don’t Need a 'Space Corps'
The US military’s top space commander wants deeper integration and more resources, not a separate Space Corps.
Threats
Spooked by North Korea, Lawmakers Resurrect an Old Missile-Defense Idea
Technical experts say space-based interceptors haven’t gotten any more practical since the Reagan era, but House lawmakers still want the Pentagon to plan for them.
Policy