Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

The U.S. Army awarded a $464.8 million production contract to AeroVironment, Inc., this week for the Enduring-High Energy Laser program (E-HEL), marking the first production contract for a directed energy system in the U.S. military’s history, the company stated in a release Wednesday.Rather than deploying missiles to shoot down unmanned aircraft, the E-HEL fires a laser beam at its targets and can reload its magazine through the system’s power supply, according to the Army.“This first-of-its-kind directed energy program will enable our formations to defeat unmanned systems and dominate from the outset,” Vice Chief of Staff of the Army General Christopher…

LYNN, Mass.—Rosie the robot and her automated compatriot Thomas are the stars of GE Aerospace’s automated manufacturing line at the company’s factory here. Decked in yellow, the towering machines are reminiscent of the Transformer Bumblebee’s dislocated arms. They move in concert seamlessly to collect tools, machine parts, and assemble components for the T700, which are found in Boeing’s Apache and Sikorsky’s Black Hawks, and, in the future,T408 engines for the Marine Corps’ CH-53-K King Stallion. It’s part of a multiyear $100 million investment in the plant, which is hyperfocused on upgrades—from machines to workflows—to make more engines and deliver them faster. “This…

This is an update to an article I wrote last year (and the year before) that provides tips and resources to transition from employee to annuitant and to catch up on some of the retirement planning that should have, but maybe didn’t, begin when you started your career. Here are some crucial tips for every stage of your federal career:  Understand the parts of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)  Service Credit You know how long you’ve been a federal employee, but is there sufficient evidence of your career so that service may be credited towards your retirement eligibility and calculation?  Be sure that there is documentation…

Paramount Pictures recently dropped their second trailer for the Street Fighter movie that’s due to hit theaters on October 16, 2026. Evidently, they’re beginning to ramp up their advertisement campaign for the movie as we draw ever closer to that date. Just recently, Capcom shared an update that’s coming to Street Fighter 6. To celebrate the Street Fighter movie, players will be able to obtain splash screens that capture the likeness of the actors behind various characters that…

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing the Army to explain why it is shuttering a specialized drone battalion less than a year after establishing it, a move that comes as conflicts across the world have become increasingly defined by unmanned aerial systems and electronic warfare.The 600-member “Unmanned Assault Battalion,” created as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was charged with learning tactics and skills from Ukraine’s more-than four-year fight against Russia and applying them to the U.S. military. In a letter, legislators expressed concern that eliminating the battalion was another sign of the Defense Department’s “uneven and inconsistent” support…

Much of today’s policy debate over artificial intelligence (AI) focuses on efforts to change the costs of access to AI—to shift relative costs such that AI adoption is steered toward channels that society can monitor and away from channels it cannot. Policy analysis has concentrated on the supply side of this problem, with such mechanisms as export restrictions, licensing requirements, and controls on computing hardware. But where AI capabilities end up depends on the choices of organizations and individuals about what to adopt and through which channels, and it is on this demand side that cost-shifting instruments operate. This demand…

As directed by the Secretary of War in an effort to rebuild the Nation’s military, the Marine Corps developed an executable and adaptable growth implementation plan for the next five years to advance the service’s “First to Fight” capstone concept. This growth plan sustains modernization momentum and enables the Corps to continue fielding a globally responsive, lethal, and resilient naval expeditionary force in support of fleet maneuver and joint campaigns. The Marine Corps spent the last several years executing an intense modernization campaign of learning, experimentation, and fielding. That effort gives the Corps a clear blueprint to outpace peer competitors,…

The former multi-time heavyweight champion has been in negotiations for months for a showdown against fellow British fighter Anthony Joshua but the two sides have been unable to come to an agreement. The location of the fight seems to be the sticking point with Fury and his promoters targeting the United States for the long awaited battle while Joshua and his promoter Eddie Heard have insisted the fight take place in England.The long, drawn out process has finally gone far enough for Fury, who released a message on social media saying he’s done with this fight and he’s moving onto…

The Pentagon is temporarily rescinding recently published clinical guidance for a new, mandatory testosterone-deficiency screening policy for service members aged 30 and older, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Pentagon posted the “Clinical Guidance for Health and Human Performance Optimization” on its website. By Thursday, the memo and an accompanying statement from spokesperson Sean Parnell had been removed. “The draft (document) published on September 2, 2026, has been temporarily rescinded to allow for updates,” the official said, adding that interim guidance remains in effect. The detailed clinical guidelines had laid out separate testosterone deficiency screening paths…

A U.S. Air Force base has ceased extending religious greetings at its gates to uniformed members following the reported intervention of an anti-discrimination organization. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which has more than 100,000 members including both active-duty and veteran service members from different services and myriad ranks, said Thursday that it intervened following nearly three dozen received complaints about religious-oriented greetings at Kirtland Air Force Base’s front gates. MRFF said in a Sept. 3 press release that it ultimately received 34 complaints dating back days and even weeks, including from 24 individuals who identify as Christian. Officials at…