Policy

15 Things We Learned from the Internet Giants

The key takeaways from three days of testimony about Russia’s electoral mischief during the 2016 election.

Science & Tech

DHS Wants Tech to Scan Your Face as You Drive to Mexico

The department is opting for a faster procurement option for the technology.

Threats

The Pentagon’s IED-Hunters Have a New Target: Drones

After a decade of ups and downs, JIDO has added the counter-UAV mission.

Science & Tech

This Technology Could Help Solve IED Detection — And Airport Security Too

New radio-wave sensors are designed to suss out hidden explosives —whether in car bombs or carry-on laptops.

Ideas

How the US Air Force Made Its ISR Network Cheaper to Run and Easier to Upgrade

Real-world lessons from a leader of the three-year effort to convert DCGS to open architecture.

Science & Tech

US Army Chief Announces Major Reorganization For How Army Develops, Buys Weapons

Gen. Milley says Army 'must regain our overmatch and competitive advantage against emerging threats.'

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.

Ideas

The Pentagon Has the World’s Largest Logistics Problem. Blockchain Can Help

DoD should join other logistics-heavy organizations in experimenting with the cryptography-messaging-accounting technology that powers Bitcoin.

Science & Tech

DARPA-Funded Radar Lets Planes See Through Smoke and Clouds

A promising approach to a decades-old quandary: how to get a clear field of view to the ground?

Science & Tech

Social Media is ‘First Tool’ of 21st-Century Warfare, US Lawmaker Says

And buying Facebook ads is much cheaper than an F-35 fighter jet, said Sen. Mark Warner.

Science & Tech

The Future the US Military is Constructing: a Giant, Armed Nervous System

Service chiefs are converging on a single strategy for military dominance: connect everything to everything.

Threats

‘Cyber Defense Is Very Much About Political Decisions’

When European defense ministers played a tabletop cyber defense exercise, things got hard very quickly.

Science & Tech

Can the US Military Re-Invent the Microchip for the AI Era?

As conventional microchip design reaches its limits, DARPA is pouring money into the specialty chips that might power tomorrow’s autonomous machines.

Science & Tech

Trump's Tech Crackdown on China Has Begun

The White House just blocked a $1.3 billion plan to sell an Oregon-based semiconductor company to a Chinese equity firm, citing possible technology risks to national security.

Business

NSA Quietly Awards a Classified $2.4B Tech Contract, With More to Come

CSRA won the first of three NSA Groundbreaker contracts to upgrade parts of the intelligence community’s IT infrastructure.

Science & Tech

Energy Dept Spends $33M to Harden Grid Against Network, Kinetic Attack

The grants focus on improving grid resiliency during a cyberattack and speeding recovery.

Science & Tech

DARPA Wants to MacGyver the Internet Using Only What's in Troops' Pockets

The research agency wants to tap the computer power of the devices warfighters already have to network anywhere.