Science & Tech
Tomorrow’s Downed Pilots May Be Rescued by an Osprey-Black Hawk Team
A U.S. Air Force chief of staff who was shot down over Serbia has reenergized the debate over the best way to do combat search and rescue.
Science & Tech
The Air Force Is Starting to Think About Its Next Strike Aircraft
Service leaders are laying groundwork for a new strike capability — even as they work to unground their F-35s.
Science & Tech
Sikorsky’s New Ace in the Hole: Lockheed’s Skunk Works
The newly acquired helicopter maker is tapping into Lockheed Martin’s famed advanced tech division.
Science & Tech
Tomorrow’s Laser-Armed Helicopter Drones
First come powerful generators, then autonomy, then directed energy, says LightningStrike maker.
Business
US Air Force Grounds F-35s It Just Declared Ready for War
Crumbling avionics lines are the latest setback for the jet, which had been riding a wave of progress.
Science & Tech
How Will Terrorists Use the Internet of Things? The Justice Department Is Trying to Figure That Out
As the business of connected devices explodes, DOJ joins other agencies in evaluating the national-security risks.
Science & Tech
The Military’s Supermarket Goes Shopping for Better Encryption
Computer-generated passwords are stored beside personal and financial data. Security should be tighter than that, a report from the Defense Commissary Agency says.
Science & Tech
To Counter Russia’s Cyber Prowess, US Army Launches Rapid-Tech Office
The battle for eastern Ukraine shows how the pace of innovation in electronic warfare is picking up.
Science & Tech
For F-35's First Deployment, Marines Plan 'School of Hard Knocks'
Real-world missions will help the Corps chart its future with the plane, says the leader of the Marines’ Combat Development Command.
Science & Tech
Pentagon Eyes Missile-Defense Sensors In Space
Even as the Defense Department begins to build a giant new flight-tracking radar in Alaska, it is already thinking bigger — and much higher.
Science & Tech
The US Military Will ‘Be Left Behind’ If It Doesn’t Embrace Open-Source Software, Report Says
Amid a rising China and Russia, the Pentagon’s slow pace on the software front could cost it tactically for years to come.
Science & Tech
Boeing Wants to Patent a Fire-Fighting Howitzer Round
Suppressent-filled shell would help firefighters gun down wildfires.
Ideas
‘Autonomy’: A Smart Overview of the Pentagon’s Robotic Plans
But the long-awaited Defense Science Board study tiptoes around the question of armed autonomous systems.
Science & Tech
US Gets Serious about Portable Nuke-Detector Prototypes
Homeland Security spends $20M to develop devices to find bombs being transported in ships, on metro systems, or in public places.
Science & Tech
China’s New Satellite Puts Quantum Encryption Into Orbit
It’s designed to literally teleport information nearly 750 miles.
Science & Tech
There’s a Big Loophole in the Pentagon’s Guide to Eavesdropping
The new rules reflect a shift in intel-gathering from phone-tapping to capturing conversations on the internet.
Science & Tech
The Military Is Genetically Modifying Bacteria to Make Even Tinier Computers
The biosynthetic microbe could wire future nanoelectronics after Navy-funded researchers supercharged its conductivity.
Science & Tech
Twitter Suspends Another 235,000 Accounts Promoting Terrorism
ISIS is losing territory online, too, as Twitter joins social media companies accelerating efforts to purge extremist speech from their sites.
Science & Tech
Naval Aviators Describe How the F-35's Brains Will Change Air Warfare
They gave the F-35 rave reviews during a show-and-tell at sea, but questions remain about its troubled software.
Science & Tech