Defense

Factbox: What happens in a U.S. government shutdown?

By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker, Reuters

In shutdowns, nonessential government employees are furloughed, or placed on temporary unpaid leave. Workers deemed essential, including those dealing with public safety and national security, keep...
The Mysterious Threat to Pilots That the Pentagon Can’t Solve

By Ciro Scotti

Episodes of oxygen deprivation affecting the pilots of F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet — and other military aircraft including the F-35 — are on the rise and remain an unsolved mystery.
What Game Theory Tells Us About Trump’s ‘Madman’ Approach to North Korea

By Rob Garver

Is Donald Trump out of his mind? Maybe he wants North Korea to think so.
Does the Army’s $580 Million Handgun Have a Fatal Flaw?

By Ciro Scotti

Last January, the Army made a $580 million decision: It would replace its longstanding sidearm, the M9 Beretta, with a new modular handgun made by the U.S. arm of the German-controlled gunsmith Sig...
Why the Escalating Threats Between Trump and Kim Won’t End in War

By Patrick Smith

The supercharged threats volleyed between President Trump and Kim Jong Un this week bring us closer to war with the North Korea than at any time since Pyongyang tested its first nuclear device in...

Here’s the Real State of the $1 Trillion U.S. Nuclear Upgrade

By David Francis

The American nuclear arsenal is just about the same as it was when Trump took office.
Here’s Why North Korea Put Guam in Its Crosshairs

By David Francis

Hours after President Donald Trump threatened North Korea with fire and fury like the world has never known, Pyongyang announced it is "examining the operational plan" to attack Guam, a tiny U.S...
Why the Price of the F-35 Keeps Soaring

By Ciro Scotti

The most costly fighter ever built is getting even more expensive. A new General Accounting Office report says the Pentagon will spend an additional $3.9 billion over the next five years on “...
The Media Has to Stop Provoking Trump’s Worst Instincts

By Rob Garver

For a man constantly boasting about his extraordinary negotiating prowess, President Trump made a pretty obvious rookie mistake on Tuesday, with his apocalyptic-sounding promise to deliver “fire and...
Five Things You Need to Know About Plans to Privatize the Afghan War

By David Francis

The White House is actively considering a plan to turn a big chunk of the war in Afghanistan over to private contractors. That’s according to Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater security firm, who...

China Beefing Up Its Air Force With the World’s Largest Plane

By Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

The Soviets built a single Antonov An-225 cargo jet — the longest and heaviest airplane ever built — to carry the Buran space shuttle. Now China wants a fleet of them. A recently announced deal with...
The Navy's $21 Billion Littoral Combat Ship Program Is Taking on Water

By Ciro Scotti

With engineering problems dogging the U.S. Navy’s newest class of combat vessel, the $21 billion littoral combat ship (LCS) program, the brass first had the multimillion-dollar ships and their crews...
Pentagon Paid Boeing $20 Billion and Bonuses for Shoddy Missile Defense System

By Eric Pianin

The Pentagon spent $40 billion over a decade on a ground-based domestic missile defense system that has repeatedly failed the most rudimentary tests of its effectiveness in shooting enemy nuclear...
After Years of Bad News, the F-35 Proves a Double Threat from the Sky

By Eric Pianin

The $1 trillion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has taken plenty of lumps in recent years, as the DOD’s next-generation stealth fighter aircraft has experienced mind-boggling cost overruns and occasionally...
Pentagon Officials Indifferent to $1 Million Travel Card Fraud

By Eric Pianin

Last May government auditors unveiled a juicy scandal at the Defense Department. Hundreds if not thousands of military personnel had run up more than $1 million on their government travel cards to...

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