After watchdog slams understaffing, AI to vet Pentagon-backed professors’ China ties
AI’s confusion over the nature of DOD research partnerships may mask real espionage if humans are not the final judge of foreign influence, experts warn.
Defense
‘Actively shrinking’: Guard generals push Congress for 100 new fighters a year
A total of 22 generals signed a letter to Congress this month calling for multiyear funding to buy between 72 and 100 new fighters per year.
Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon’s growing reliance on SpaceX
Last August, a global outage across Elon Musk’s satellite network left U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessels bobbing off California, halting operations.
Pentagon, Lockheed Martin agree to $4.7 billion PAC-3 interceptor deal
Lockheed in January discussed a target of increasing annual PAC-3 interceptor production from approximately 600 to 2,000 over a span of seven years.
Pentagon’s ouster of Anthropic opens doors for small AI rivals
Small defense industry artificial intelligence startups are suddenly fielding calls from generals, combatant commanders and deep-pocketed investors.
US defense stocks see no Iran war lift after early surge
U.S. defense stocks have declined even as the Iran war drags on.
The US Navy wants you ... to make ‘Drone Killer’ ammunition
The Navy designed the Drone Killer Cartridge to address the emerging threat of small quadcopters. It now wants ammo makers to make millions of the rounds.
Former VA executive charged with accepting $16K worth of gifts
The senior VA official has been charged with failing to disclose gifts he received from contractors working on the project he oversaw.
The Pentagon wants to field laser weapons at scale within 3 years
Amid waves of Iranian drone attacks, the U.S. Defense Department is pushing to finally field high-energy laser weapons in the next 36 months.
Ukraine’s top drone units to bring frontline lessons to Washington this month
Some of Ukraine’s best-known drone military commanders and experts will be visiting Washington later this month to brief policymakers and defense leaders.
These are Ukraine’s $1,000 interceptor drones the Pentagon wants to buy
Ukraine spent years perfecting cheap drone killers. After burning through billions in missiles in three days, the U.S. and its allies are asking for help.
Pentagon and FAA agree to conduct anti-drone laser tests in New Mexico
The agreement comes after the deployment of lasers led the FAA to suddenly close airspace in Texas twice in the last month.
What to know about Defense Protection Act and the Pentagon’s Anthropic ultimatum
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei repeatedly has made clear his ethical concerns about unchecked government use of AI.
VA to formally rescind controversial disability ratings rule
A policy requiring VA medical examiners to include effects of medication in assigning disability ratings is expected to be formally rescinded on Feb. 27.
Supreme Court declines COVID vaccine mandate cases
The justices denied petitions Monday for Poffenbarger v. Meink and Doster v. Meink.
Rapid scaling, soldier-led market key to US drone ambitions, Army secretary says
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the service will soon launch a soldier-led marketplace to market drone innovations alongside private industry.
How commercial drones make the Pentagon’s ‘Blue UAS Select’ list
For an off-the-shelf drone to be added to the Blue UAS list, it must pass rigorous testing and cyber security evaluations.
