Threats

In First, Navy Ship Shoots Down ICBM with SM-3 Interceptor

The test could set the stage for a new framework of missile interceptors in the Pacific.

Science & Tech

US Army Aims to Convert Navy Missiles for Remote-Launched Strikes

If experiments prove out, one soldier-operator will be able to pour fires from diverse launchers onto a target.

Science & Tech

DOD Funds an Academic Consortium of Hypersonic Researchers to Outdo China

The field is so new that it needs experts from many fields to learn to work together.

Threats

North Korea Unveils ‘Very Destabilizing’ ICBM

Pyongyang’s new missile boosts the chance of conflict, even if it doesn’t work.

Threats

Firms Picked to Make Orbiting Sensors for Next-Gen US Missile-Defense System

The sensors and satellites will be part of the Tracking Layer component of the next-gen missile-defense system.

Science & Tech

The Air Force’s ‘Connect Everything’ Project Just Had a Big Success

The simulated cruise missile intercept harnessed widely dispersed systems — all supervised by tablets in a flight-line hangar.

Science & Tech

Adding Sensors Saves Ammo, Army Network Testers Find

In a Thursday test, Sentinel radars helped air-warfare operators down simulated missiles with fewer interceptors.

Science & Tech

US Missile Defenses Are About to Level Up

Laser-armed Strykers, new Eastern European batteries, and sea-based interceptors are all coming in the next two years, Pentagon officials say.

Science & Tech

The U-2's Latest Feat: Passing Data from F-35s to Army Missiles

A recent demonstration used the old spy plane as an airborne comms relay between fighters and ground-based weaponry.

Ideas

Lessons from Yemen’s Missile War

After five years, hundreds of long- and short-range missiles fired, and more than 160 missile-defense intercepts, it’s time to take stock.

Science & Tech

DOD’s Top Scientist Shoots Down Airborne Lasers for Missile Defense

What’s needed, Griffin says, is more research into how to use weapons of various strengths in other kinds of combat.

Science & Tech

New START Treaty Looks Dead in the Water

Unless Trump leads, observers say hopes for renewing the arms control deal with Russia, or a bigger one with China, will expire next year.

Science & Tech

The High-Tech Gear That’s Helping the US Military Decide Where to Send Medical Troops Next

An iPhone app and predictive analytics tell the four-star what’s going on right now.

Business

Lockheed Adds 1,000 Employees Amid Coronavirus Crisis, Wants to Hire 5,000 More

The defense giant also said it would give bonuses to employees who can’t work from home.

Ideas

The US Should Accept Russia’s Proposed Moratorium on Post-INF Missiles

The temporary measure has no near-term downside — and may jumpstart important arms-control talks.

Policy

Where Could the US Put Its Post-INF Missiles?

It would be a hard slog to get allies to agree to any sort of basing agreement.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Seeks a Way to Shoot Down Putin’s ‘Invincible’ Hypersonic Missiles

A $13 million DARPA contract will get Northrop working on the problem.

Science & Tech

The US Wants to Intimidate China with Hypersonics, Once It Solves the Physics

The U.S. is pressing ahead with new missiles, but questions remain about engineering, tactics, and even geopolitics.