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...

Was Trump’s $110 Billion Saudi Arms Deal ‘Fake News?’

By Rob Garver

It looks like the $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia and promises of huge jobs gains that President Trump announced to great fanfare during his trip to the Middle East last month was seriously...
How the US Lost Track of $2 Billion Worth of Weapons Sent to Fight ISIS

By Ciro Scotti

In 2014, as ISIS rampaged through large swaths of Syria and Iraq, a concerned U.S. Congress appropriated an extra $2.3 billion to arm Iraqis and Kurds fighting the Islamic State. Related: How Will We...
The Real Legacy of the US Wars in the Mideast — Never-Ending Debt

By Jacqueline Leo

The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be as high as $6 trillion, including medical and disability care for vets and all their families and a host of other expenses such as rising...
Why Trump’s Boost to Military Spending May Not Deliver ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’

By Ciro Scotti

The candidacy of Donald Trump was built in large part on creating American jobs, but the biggest boost in his 2018 budget is for defense, and a new study argues that spending on arms is not as...
Here's How Broken Washington Is — Even Without Trump

By David Dayen

A problem caused by a government-granted monopoly looks like it’ll actually get solved. Or it did, until conservatives found the name “Elizabeth Warren” atop the bill.

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