Tag: military

Pentagon’s ‘SWAT team of nerds’ resigns en masse

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The Defense Digital Service was created in 2015 to help the Pentagon adopt fast tech fixes during national security crises and push Silicon Valley-style innovation inside the Pentagon. It built rapid response tools for the military during the Afghanistan withdrawal, databases to transfer Ukrainian military and humanitarian aid, drone detection technologies and more.

Without the program, some key efforts to streamline the DOD’s tech talent pipeline and counter adversarial drones will be sunsetted, one soon-to-be former employee said.

Once dubbed the Pentagon’s “SWAT team of nerds,” DDS was one of the department’s earliest efforts to inject Silicon Valley ethos into its massive bureaucracy.”

…

“every employee interviewed said they wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for DOGE.

One former senior Pentagon official, who asked not to be named because of possible retaliation, described DOGE’s wider incursion into the Defense Department as damaging and unproductive

“They’re not really using AI, they’re not really driving efficiency. What they’re doing is smashing everything,” the former official said.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/15/pentagons-digital-resignations-00290930

US Army to control land on Mexico border as part of base, migrants could be detained, officials say

Posted on by Lone Candle

“A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

The transfer of that border zone to military control — and making it part of an Army installation — is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil.

But if the troops are providing security for land that is part of an Army base, they can perform that function. However, at least one presidential powers expert said the move is likely to be challenged in the courts.”

The military should be focused on fighting and winning wars, not enforcing immigration policy.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-army-control-land-mexico-194152492.html

Russian defense spending overtakes Europe, study finds

Posted on by Lone Candle

In purchasing power parity terms, Russia’s military spending is higher than Europe’s.

https://www.politico.eu/article/russian-defense-spending-overtakes-europe-study-finds/

What we can learn about China’s J-36 (from America’s FB-22)

Posted on by Lone Candle

The F-22 could have been far more capable, but the U.S., thinking threats to its air superiority were over, canceled the upgrades to save money. Now, U.S. air superiority is threatened by China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRIooaaPlOA