Threats

Defense Innovation Unit Launched 23 Projects Last Year, Up One-Third

The group also sent 11 capabilities to Defense Department partners, according to its annual report.

Policy

US Unprepared for AI Competition with China, Commission Finds

Retaining the current dwindling edge will take White House leadership and a substantial investment, according to the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

Ideas

The Day Private Willie Mays Threw Out My Dad

Two lives intersect in a story of baseball, military service, and American society in the Korean War era.

Science & Tech

US Army Tests Autonomous Vehicle in Maryland

Researchers aim to better understand how the self-moving machines respond to real-world challenges.

Ideas

The Pentagon’s Chance to Get Serious About Climate Change

Biden’s executive order is a welcome first step — but there's only so much the military can do.

Ideas

Purity Tested, Senators Confirm General Austin for SecDef

With little actual opposition in the end, members voted for the waiver and the man.

Ideas

How to Fight Domestic Extremism and Win Public Trust

After years of partisan politicization, national security leaders and workers need to be clear about how they'll keep us safe from each other.

Business

Austin Pledges to Recuse Himself from Military Decisions Involving Raytheon

The commitment is a huge win for Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other progressive Democrats pushing for stricter lobbying laws.

Policy

Biden's NSA May Face Legal Fight Over Trump-Installed Lawyer

Acting SecDef Miller warns firing Michael Ellis could bring new allegations of unfair retaliation.

Ideas

Advice for the Next Secretary of Defense

Our most serious threats are not external. Biden’s team also must address the bitter polarization of our politics, which has divided our country and global institutions.

Ideas

Pentagon Won’t Throw Traditional Farewell Ceremony for Trump

It’s a shame, and a missed opportunity — not despite recent events but because of them.

Policy

For Pentagon, Biden Picks Two Obama-era Policy Veterans to Help Austin

After passing on Flournoy, Biden taps Kathleen Hicks and Colin Kahl to be Austin's deputy defense secretary and undersecretary for policy.

Policy

Trump Vetoes Defense Authorization Bill

For the Confederacy, conservative speech, and the desire to bring troops home, Trump rejected the $700 billion NDAA at the last minute before Washington breaks for Christmas.

Threats

Acting SecDef Miller Visits Troops in Afghanistan

Trump's designee returned 19 years after serving here, this time to oversee a controversial order to rush troops out before Joe Biden is sworn in.

Threats

Milley Meets With Taliban In Fragile Peace Negotiations

The Joint Chiefs chairman's meeting comes at a profound moment of uncertainty for the U.S.-brokered talks on Afghanistan.

Threats

NATO Gears Up for Biden, Big Decisions on Afghanistan, China

“We are faced with a very hard and difficult dilemma,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an exclusive interview.

Ideas

The Problem With the SecDef Purity Test

You don’t want a general, a man, a war veteran — and everyone in the defense industry is evil?