Science & Tech

Got New Autonomous Tech? The Army Wants to See It

Officials are gathering candidates for a second autonomous-tech assessment: air-ground robots, voice-guided technology, and more.  

Ideas

How the West May Have Helped Build China’s Spy Balloons

Beijing has long pursued aerostat technology, even enlisting French and American firms to help.

Policy

Marines Issue Warning on Amphib Fleet

The assistant commandant says 31 large amphibious warfare ships are needed to avoid risk.

Exclusive Business

Memo Details Effort to Boost Production of Weapons Sent to Ukraine

The Pentagon's top buyer offers a “targeted list” of weapons to help solve a problem decades in the making.

Policy

NSA Woos Laid-Off Tech Workers

The intelligence agency is advertising "one of its largest hiring surges in 30 years" amid other new recruiting efforts.

Policy

The Army Picked a Black Hawk Replacement — But the Fight May Have Just Begun

Sikorsky and Boeing are protesting the service choosing a Bell-made tiltrotor, and lawmakers are angry.

Defense Systems

DOD Should Map the Competing Incentives that Hinder Innovation, Says Air Force 3-Star

That might point the way to needed cultural and structural changes, the service’s strategy-and-requirements leader told the Defense Innovation Board.

Policy

DOD to Favor Small-Business Contracts Over 'Best-in-Class' Awards

Contracting officers will prioritize goals for small- and disadvantaged-business contracting over BIC objectives "if achievement of both goals is not possible."

Ideas

Ukraine Proves U.S. Troops Need Quick Access to Commercial Technology

Ukraine has held off Russia’s attacks using a readily available mix of military and commercial technology. The United States is taking note.

Ideas

We Don't Have the Missiles to Stop China. Time For Drone Swarms

Despite all the calls to boost production, the U.S. military will be short of key missiles for at least two years. It needs ways to win with what it has now.

Threats

Next Missile Sub ‘Facing Delays’ Due to Design, Materials, and Quality, GAO Says

Electric Boat is pulling workers from the Virginia program to help the Columbia effort, but at unknown risks to cost and schedule, the watchdog wrote in a new report.

Business

Expect Big Replenishment Orders Soon, Army Tells Industry

February and March should bring contracts to replace weapons sent to Ukraine, acquisition chief says.

Science & Tech

The Pentagon’s Innovation Shop Wants More Influence in 2023

The agency wants to be part of program executives’ acquisition strategies and to spread more commercial-based tech across the department.