Pentagon

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Pentagon Official in Trouble for Stealing License Plates

He left threatening note on nanny's car

(Newser) - A top Pentagon official known as a "stickler for the rules" almost ended up in prison for harassing a nanny who parked in his upscale Washington, DC, neighborhood, the Washington Post reports. Cops say Bryan Whitman stole the nanny's license plates three times in April after leaving a...

America's Nuke Program Runs on Floppy Disks

And not even the tiny ones

(Newser) - To anyone born after 1995, the floppy disk is better known as that thing that resembles the "save" icon. To the Pentagon, it's the gizmo that controls America's nukes. A report from the Government Accountability Office finds US government agencies spend $60 billion a year operating and...

Where Rebels Backed by CIA, Pentagon Fight Each Other

Yet another challenge in the disastrous Syrian war

(Newser) - Syrian militants backed by different arms of the US government have fought just outside Aleppo—a recent headache highlighting the difficulty of intruding on a disastrous war, the LA Times reports. Backed by the Pentagon, the Syrian Democratic Forces in February pushed the CIA-armed Knights of Righteousness out of the...

US: We Blew Up 150 Militants in Somalia

Pentagon says it destroyed al-Shabab's Raso Camp

(Newser) - A US airstrike using multiple drones and manned aircraft struck a training camp in Somalia Saturday, killing more than 150 al-Shabab fighters who were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or US personnel, the Pentagon said Monday. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, says the US...

The Pentagon Wants You to Hack Its Websites

You'll have to pass a background check first

(Newser) - Get ready for "the first cyber bug bounty program in the history of the federal government." Beginning in April, American hackers who pass a background check will be able to access predetermined Web pages and networks of the Department of Defense in the hope that they'll find...

Pentagon Finally Releases Detainee Abuse Photos

The ACLU says the worst ones are being kept under wraps

(Newser) - After fighting an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for more than a decade, the Pentagon has finally released photos of Bush-era detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. But only 198 photos were released on Friday, mainly showing bruises and scrapes, and the military is still blocking...

Marine Corps Gives Up on &#39;Robot Mule&#39;
 Marines Scrap 'Robot Mule' 
Dec 31, 2015 4:12 AM CST

Marines Scrap 'Robot Mule'

The big one was too noisy and the small one was too weak

(Newser) - It obeys voice commands and can carry 400 pounds of equipment over rugged terrain for 24 hours—but it sounds like a lawn mower, and US Marines worried that it could get them killed. The Marine Corps has shelved the Legged Squad Support System "robotic mule" developed by Google'...

Pentagon Blew $150M on Afghan Villas, Fine Dining

Cost would have been closer to ... nothing, had staff stayed at military base

(Newser) - First the Pentagon poured $43 million into an Afghan gas station that should've cost $500,000. Now it's under fire for putting up a "handful" of staff and visitors in private Afghan villas, as well as shelling out for private bodyguards and fine dining—running up a...

$80B Stealth Bomber Project Takes Flight

The LRS-B will become 'backbone' of Air Force: Carter

(Newser) - One of the most expensive projects in the Pentagon's history has been awarded to Northrop Grumman. The company won the bid to build the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) at a cost that could top $80 billion, reports the Los Angeles Times . Northrop will get more than $20 billion to...

F-35's Fancy New Helmets Come With Wild Price Tag

And also some serious problems

(Newser) - How cool does a helmet have to be before you can justify spending $400,000 on one? That's the question before the Pentagon, which is expected to spend around $1 billion on helmets for its new fleet of state-of-the-art F-35s, the Air Force Times reports. In fairness to the...

US Making 'Condolence Payments' in Hospital Bombing

Pentagon says it's 'important to address the consequences of the tragic incident'

(Newser) - President Obama has apologized for the American-led airstrikes on the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz that killed 22, but the Pentagon is now putting its money where the White House's mouth is, reports the Los Angeles Times . "The Department of Defense believes it is important to address...

Things Getting Tense Between US, Russia in Syrian Airspace

US fighter jets forced to reroute to avoid Russian aircraft

(Newser) - A Russian military aircraft was too close for comfort in the skies above Syria, forcing two US F-16s to move out of the way and scuttling their mission, CNN reports. The Pentagon made the announcement Wednesday but would only say the incident occurred in the past few days. All US...

Pentagon May Be Fudging Numbers in ISIS Fight

Its inspector general is looking into allegations

(Newser) - Next time a US policy maker is talking about the progress being made against ISIS, it might be wise to be extra skeptical. The New York Times reports that the Pentagon's inspector general is looking into allegations that intelligence analyses are being goosed to present a picture rosier than...

Russian Hackers Suspected in Cyberattack on Pentagon

Emails of 4K Joint Chiefs of Staff employees affected

(Newser) - Officials believe Russian hackers are behind a cyberattack on the Pentagon's unclassified email system that has left approximately 4,000 employees of the Joint Chiefs of Staff without email for nearly two weeks, NBC News reports. The attack happened sometime in the last week of July, and while officials...

$21M US Drone Crashes in Iraq, Guy Gets a Selfie

Spy drone conducting surveillance went down due to 'technical complications'

(Newser) - Pictures started circulating online this week of what looked like a US Army drone sitting in the middle of the Iraqi desert, and yesterday the Pentagon confirmed that's indeed what it is, the Verge reports. A US Central Command spokesman told BuzzFeed that an MQ-1 surveillance drone crashed on...

Pentagon: Let's End Transgender Ban in the Military

But military chiefs want time to sort out details

(Newser) - The Pentagon's current regulations banning transgender individuals from serving in the military are outdated, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today, ordering a six-month study aimed at formally ending one of the last gender- or sexuality-based barriers to military service. Carter says he is creating a working group that will...

China's Snagging Our Defensive Edge: Pentagon

Which is why we need to step it up, Robert Work says

(Newser) - The Pentagon is digging deeper in its push for new air and space technologies as China threatens to unseat the US as king of the skies. Speaking with aerospace experts at the China Aerospace Studies Initiative, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work says the US' rival is "quickly closing the...

We're Spending $9M a Day to Fight ISIS

Pentagon releases first detailed breakdown of costs

(Newser) - The US has spent more than $2.7 billion on the war against ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria since bombings began last August, and the average daily cost is now more than $9 million, the Pentagon said yesterday. Releasing a detailed breakdown of the costs for the first time,...

Pentagon Spouses May Want to Check Work Credit Cards

Audit turns up $1M in charges to casinos, escorts

(Newser) - An audit of government credit cards issued to Pentagon employees turned up a strange thing: lots of charges for gambling, prostitutes, and strip clubs, reports Politico . Specifically, the audit found more than $1 million in such charges from July 2013 to July 2014, with the bulk of that total, $952,...

Pentagon: Truly, We Promise Not to Invade Texas

Spokesman debunks still-growing rumors about Jade Helm 15

(Newser) - If you haven't heard of the paranoia fest known as Jade Helm 15 yet, yesterday's announcement from the Pentagon might seem a little weird: It swears it doesn't plan to take over Texas and impose martial law. A spokesman felt compelled to officially tamp down those rumors,...

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