Science & Tech
The state of naval autonomy
Companies are teeming with various uncrewed and autonomous systems to meet the Navy’s ask for a hybrid fleet—obstacles and all.
Business
Canceled: Pentagon terminates IT service contracts
Defense Secretary opts to rely on federal workers instead of third-party consulting firms Accenture, Deloitte, and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Policy
Confronted with ‘eye-opening’ costs, SecNav vows to root out waste
Phelan said his service is beginning to review existing acquisition contracts and will “demand accountability of the shipbuilding enterprise.”
Exclusive
Science & Tech
Navy expands use of AI for target spotting, tracking
Two warships will test prototypes of Rebellion Defense’s IRIS system next year.
Business
A shipbuilder leans into lasers and emerging tech
HII CEO touts mission-systems business, downplays tariffs’ effects, and worries about the federal workforce.
Business
DOD weapons buyer nominee wants to focus on new tech
Michael Duffey also faced lawmakers’ questions about the Yemen-bombing Signal chat.
Business
Shipbuilders swarm Capitol Hill to lobby for aircraft carrier funding
The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition wants $600 million to secure building of the years-delayed CVN-82.
Science & Tech
Can this GPS alternative keep a drone from crashing?
A product by Maxar uses satellite imagery to create 3D maps that help UAS fly even if GPS goes down.
Defense Systems
SecDef’s software memo causing ‘angst,' defense official says
But that just shows how much the buy-it-faster directive was needed, the Pentagon's acting weapons chief said.
Science & Tech
Back like it never left: Austin swarmed with defense tech for SXSW
Defense techies, startups, and investors were in full force this week—if not on the main stage.
Defense Systems
This AI startup wants to give federal workers a taste of the intel community
Using AI that learns from images and video, Danti’s platform puts the power of an intel analyst at the fingertips of anyone with a .mil or .gov email address.
Policy
Space Force hopes it gains from Hegseth’s budget shift
Vice chief says service is looking for things to cut—and has suggestions for things to buy.
Policy
Weld, baby, weld: White House to create an ‘office of shipbuilding’
Trump wants America to bend steel and build like it used to.
Policy
At least one Pentagon agency has begun firing probationary workers
The Defense Logistics Agency has begun dismissing its share of the Defense Department’s 5,400 targeted employees.
Science & Tech
A 3D-printed submarine? Not likely, but maybe something close
The Navy is bumping up its use of additive manufacturing to make critical, delay-prone submarine parts, said Christopher Miller, NAVSEA’s executive director.
Policy
Give carmakers a shot at making weapons, deputy defense secretary nominee says
Stephen Feinberg’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee stressed the need for detailed program reviews, clean audits, and new blood in defense contracting.
Defense Systems