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Rumors of War
Introducing Cogs of War
It was 1940. War raged across Asia and Europe. America had not yet joined the war, but the country was beginning to prepare for the worst. Franklin D. Roosevelt sat in the White House, speaking to his fellow citizens in one of his famous…
Flailing State: The Resurgence of al-Shabaab in Somalia
The offensive al-Shabaab launched in late February 2025 marks its most ambitious push in years, reversing government gains and reasserting control in swathes of central and southern Somalia. The rapid loss of government control underscores…
Moving Fast and Breaking Things
“Innovation adoption is a contact sport.” As the chief technology officer of the Department of the Navy, Justin Fanelli is one of the leaders responsible for ensuring warfighters have access to bleeding-edge solutions. Listen to his…
Today’s D Brief: Dramatic strikes hit Russian airbases; WH’s 2026 budget; Army’s drone training;…
Smuggled Ukrainian drones struck dozens of bombers at airfields across Russia over the weekend. “The spectacular operation, known as Spiderweb, was prepared in secret over 18 months. Ukraine’s agents moved short-range drones and explosives…
Pentagon won’t say how many civilians have left since February
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth set a goal in February for the Defense Department: shed 5 to 8 percent of the civilian workforce, or roughly 60,000 employees. To accomplish that goal, the Pentagon first instituted a hiring freeze and…
Pentagon pushes US dronemakers to innovate as quickly as Ukraine does
A new Pentagon program is pushing drone makers to continuously improve their systems based on troops’ feedback, hoping to spur innovation that moves as quickly as the war in Ukraine.Launched on Monday, the Defense Innovation Office’s…
2026 budget proposal would axe one-third of CISA workforce
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would lose nearly 1,000 full-time employees under the Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, a stark downsizing of the government’s frontline civilian cybersecurity…
AUKUS Pillar II Is Failing in Its Mission: It Needs Its Own “Optimal Pathway”
Almost four years on from the launch of the trilateral AUKUS pact, the partners’ Pillar II advanced capabilities effort remains a solution in search of a problem.
Led by lofty shared ambitions in a host of technological areas, rather than…
INDOPACOM brings AI to wargaming exercise
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has long sought to realize the potential of artificial intelligence to help commanders; now U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is about to use AI-powered decision aids in a signature tabletop exercise.INDOPACOM will put its…
Army scrambles to improve drone training
As drones move toward the center of modern combat, U.S. Army units are scrambling to invent ways to give soldiers the training they need.That includes exploring virtual and small-scale, home-station training environments to get more…
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