Threats

Made-in-America Weapons, War Crimes, and the Outcry Over Yemen

As the US limits some arms sales to Saudi Arabia, human rights groups present 'overwhelming evidence' pointing back at Washington.

Science & Tech

The Invisible Costs of Cyber Weapons

For kinetic weapons like tanks, production costs generally outweigh research and development. For cyber weapons, R&D is almost everything.

Science & Tech

A Glimpse At How the F-35 Will Help the Marines Storm the Beach

In a California demonstration, the short-takeoff fighters escorted troop-carrying V-22s into simulated hostile territory.

Business

Canada Ditches the F-35 for the Super Hornet — For Now

After an initial buy of F/A-18s, Justin Trudeau’s government will hold a competition to replace the rest of its CF-18 Hornets.

Business

Obama’s Final Arms-Export Tally More than Doubles Bush’s

Most of the $278 billion in approved sales have gone to Saudi Arabia and other Mideast allies.

Business

Kendall: The Pentagon’s Spending Less on Weapons, So Let Me Keep My Job

A 30-year-low in cost growth is part of the defense acquisition undersecretary’s closing argument for why Congress shouldn’t eliminate his position.

Business

Pentagon Fronts Bomb Buys For Allies Fighting ISIS

A special budget account is being used to boost weapons production ahead of allies' formal orders.

Business

US-Made Patriot Missiles Shoot Down Houthi Rockets

A top U.S. admiral revealed the new detail about Saudi Arabia, already criticized for how they’re using their arsenal of Western-supplied arms against Yemen.

Business

Saudi Losses in Yemen War Exposed by US Tank Deal

The U.S. State Department says Riyadh can buy 153 Abrams tanks, 20 of which will replace ones destroyed in combat.

Business

Flexible Flyers: Companies Race to Equip Warplanes for Quick Modification

With innovation a new strategic imperative, aircraft builders are making it easier for planes to accept hardware and software improvements.

Business

ISIS, Iran Fueling Growth in Missile, Bomb Market, Says Raytheon CEO

Revenues are on the rise, thanks to the counter-ISIS airstrike campaign and worries about long-range missiles.

Science & Tech

When Will US Air Force F-35s Be Ready for Battle?

The general who will make the decision offered some clues as he celebrated the jet's recent trip across the Atlantic.

Business

India Stocks Up on Howitzers to Defend Its Border with China

New Delhi’s defence ministry approved the purchase of 145 ultra light howitzer guns from the British weapons manufacturer BAE Systems.

Ideas

Don’t Learn the Wrong Lessons from Rapid Acquisition

Our enthusiasm must be tempered by an understanding of the wartime circumstances that made it work and the downsides that were accepted.

Ideas

As Defense Markets Shift, It’s Time to Stiffen Anti-Corruption Rules for Middlemen

Third-party agents, who are crucial to arms makers’ sales efforts in the global south and east, are also relatively free to misbehave.

Ideas

Time to Move the 5th Fleet? How US Appeasement Is Undermining Bahrain's Stability

The government crackdowns that followed the Obama administration’s decision to lift an arms ban have only stirred up dissent.

Science & Tech

Air Force Wants New Plane to Replace A-10, Fight ISIS

Generals float idea of new CAS aircraft — and beyond that, an “arsenal plane” or “flying Coke machine.”

Science & Tech

Gunfight! Does the Navy's Little Warship Need a Bigger Cannon?

Size matters to gunmakers competing to arm the Littoral Combat Ship against pirates, China, and Iran.

Threats

The US is Raiding its Global Bomb Stockpiles to Fight ISIS

The anti-ISIS coalition has dropped more than 41,500 bombs, leading the Pentagon to borrow from stockpiles in other regions.

Business

Japan Shops Futuristic Sub-Hunter Plane

With arms export ban loosened, Tokyo is shopping an indigenous sub-hunting plane for the first time at an American arms show.