Science & Tech

US Army Racing to Catch Up to Russia On Battle Drones

After watching UAVs dominate eastern Ukrainian skies, the service is seeking counter-drone tech and new families of flying robots.

Science & Tech

Report: Weapons AI Increasingly Replacing, Not Augmenting, Human Decision Making

A new survey of existing and planned smart weapons finds that AI is increasingly used to replace humans, not help them.

Science & Tech

How the US Air Force is Rapidly Mobilizing For Cyber War

New ideas about defense and new tables of organization are reshaping the service’s ideas about battle.

Policy

The Intelligence Picture Over Iraq and Syria Has Gotten Much Cloudier

The leader of Air Combat Command says new players on the battlefield are complicating the air fight against ISIS.

Science & Tech

Tomorrow’s Laser-Armed Helicopter Drones

First come powerful generators, then autonomy, then directed energy, says LightningStrike maker.

Science & Tech

The Man in Charge of Stopping the Next Snowden

Moving past the summer of 2013 has proven difficult for the intelligence community.

Science & Tech

The Military’s Tech Matchmaker Is Getting Ready to Open Its Wallet

Carter says DIUx will also get a new Austin branch, its third after Boston and Silicon Valley.

Science & Tech

Special Operators Are Getting a New Autonomous Tactical Drone

A prototype microdrone that maps a building’s rooms will change the urban battlefield.

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

A New AI Learns Through Observation Alone: What That Means for Drone Surveillance

The military spends hundreds of man hours on intelligence collection and image analysis. Drones that could learn about human behavior with less human guidance could cut that time considerably.

Threats

The Same Culprits That Targeted US Election Boards Might Have Also Targeted Ukraine

More circumstantial evidence suggests Russian-backed actors targeted state election boards.

Science & Tech

5 Steps To Make U.S. Elections Less Hackable

As shadowy actors work to hack U.S. elections, a few simple steps could make electronic voting more secure, says one expert.

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.

Threats

EXCLUSIVE: Russia-Backed DNC Hackers Strike Washington Think Tanks

The same Kremlin-backed group that hacked the Pentagon, State Department, and DNC targeted DC insiders last week.

Science & Tech

Two Iraqi Guys Built an Armed Robot to Fight ISIS

The Baghdad Post says the machine-gun-wielding unmanned ground vehicle will be used in the effort to retake Mosul.

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

Russian-Linked Group Leaks US Lawmakers’ Phone Numbers, Emails

Late Friday, an online figure linked to Russian intelligence groups released the personal information of several lawmakers, part of an established pattern.