Science & Tech
‘Best drone’ innovation winner developing enemy drone recovery system with the Army Research Lab
Soldiers shared their lessons learned from the first Best Drone Warfighter competition at the Army Aviation Warfighter Summit.
Defense Systems
Space-based missile defense may cost too much for Golden Dome’s 12-figure spending plan
Czar doesn’t know if the ambitious tech can be affordably produced.
Policy
Hegseth orders termination of DOD union contracts
Federal court orders protect some collective-bargaining groups, but members of the American Federation of Government Employees remain vulnerable.
Threats
US has turned back 13 ships in blockade of Iran, Joint Chiefs chairman says
SecDef Hegseth disputes Tehran’s claims to have closed the Strait of Hormuz, despite lingering mines.
Science & Tech
Russians will surrender to robots. Russian robots won’t.
After a historic first, communications and navigation still obstruct the future for roboticized ground assault.
Defense Systems
Air Force presses for space-based radar despite AWACS loss in Iran
The service is down to a handful of E-3 radar aircraft, but is pushing off proposals to fund its replacement.
Policy
Space Force’s 2040 vision: a larger force to contend with larger Chinese, Russian threats
Officials speculate there could be 30,000 US satellites—more than twice as many as today.
Policy
Army names its first tiltrotor aircraft: Cheyenne II
Its namesakes are a tribe whose members have served in every major U.S. war—and a cancelled helicopter project.
Business
Airbus’ autonomous supply-helicopter effort may pave the way for an armed model
An automated perception test involved technology from Shield AI, L3 Harris, and Parry Labs.
Ideas
Unheeded lessons from the US warship nearly sunk by an Iranian mine
A strangely amnesiac effect seems to surround the threat of underwater weapons that wait.
Threats
US must adjust to Iran’s use of commercial satellite photos, Space Command says
CENTCOM’s declaration of “space superiority” hasn’t prevented Tehran from putting space to use.
Threats
Orbán’s loss won’t stop Russian influence campaigns, but it shows they’re beatable
The Hungarian strongman’s electoral defeat exposes the growth, and limits, of Russian hybrid-warfare tactics.
Science & Tech
Put nuclear reactors in space within a few years, White House tells Pentagon
The push follows other Trump-administration efforts to expand nuclear power.
Threats
A Russian space nuke was focus of US wargame, Space Command says
U.S. and allied governments and contractors gamed out implications of a nuclear blast intended to take out satellites.
Defense Systems
How the Army is preparing to bring its first tiltrotor aircraft online
The service wants its MV-75 to bring capabilities other services have had for years—while avoiding the V-22’s fraught reputation.
Policy
HASC chair: Trillion-dollar defense budgets are the ‘new normal.’ Reconciliation is less certain.
Many of the administration’s military space priorities bank on abnormal budget maneuvers.
Ideas
4 ways the war in Iran has weakened the US in the great power game
Trump further strains U.S. alliances while enabling China and Russia to advance regional influence.
Policy
DHS intelligence revamp would keep it answerable to nation's top spy
A proposed FY27 overhaul would keep DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis answerable to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Business