Science & Tech

How One Intelligence Agency Is Opening Up to Startups

A invitation from the Pentagon's mapping arm could be the first of more outreach to early-stage private-sector companies.

Science & Tech

Should Sailors Be Able to Reprogram Their Ship?

The U.S. Navy’s newest destroyer is automated to an unprecedented degree. Should the crew be allowed to harness it with code?

Ideas

War Goes Viral

How social media is being weaponized across the world.

Science & Tech

Potemkin Jets Unlikely To Fool US Satellites

But Russia’s inflatable decoys just might tie up scarce U.S. resources long enough to make a difference.

Science & Tech

Bitcoin-Style Security May Soon Guard US Nukes and Satellites

‘Blockchains' could offer crucial intelligence on whether a hacker has modified a database, or whether they’re surveilling a particular military system.

Science & Tech

Here’s How Countries Like China, Russia Control Online Dissent

Look at the physical systems that make up internet infrastructure, and you find a network that is a lot more centralized than you might think.

Threats

Army Warns that Future War with Russia or China Would Be ‘Extremely Lethal and Fast’

Leaders say warfare in the coming decades will be fundamentally different from the past 25 years.

Science & Tech

Beyond Big Dog: The US Army Searches for an Infantry Squadbot

Service officials have a concept of operations and a plan to deploy a cargo-carrying robot alongside dismounted soldiers in 2019. But can the acquisition system keep up?

Ideas

No, Social Media Isn’t Hurting the Army

In a rebuttal to ‘Unplug, Soldier!’, one officer explains how online time builds bonds in more ways than one.

Ideas

Unplug, Soldier! Too Much Online Time is Hurting the Army

A West Point scholar says team bonding — the bedrock of military effectiveness — is being undermined by electronic distractions.

Science & Tech

Tomorrow’s Downed Pilots May Be Rescued by an Osprey-Black Hawk Team

A U.S. Air Force chief of staff who was shot down over Serbia has reenergized the debate over the best way to do combat search and rescue.

Science & Tech

The Air Force Is Starting to Think About Its Next Strike Aircraft

Service leaders are laying groundwork for a new strike capability — even as they work to unground their F-35s.

Science & Tech

Sikorsky’s New Ace in the Hole: Lockheed’s Skunk Works

The newly acquired helicopter maker is tapping into Lockheed Martin’s famed advanced tech division.

Science & Tech

Tomorrow’s Laser-Armed Helicopter Drones

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

Business

US Air Force Grounds F-35s It Just Declared Ready for War

Crumbling avionics lines are the latest setback for the jet, which had been riding a wave of progress.

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

The Military’s Supermarket Goes Shopping for Better Encryption

Computer-generated passwords are stored beside personal and financial data. Security should be tighter than that, a report from the Defense Commissary Agency says.

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.