Menu Close

Articles on US Department of Defense

Displaying all articles

The remains of a rocket that carried cluster munitions found in a Ukrainian field. Alice Martins/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

There is no legal reason the US can’t supply cluster bombs to Ukraine – but that doesn’t justify Biden’s decision to do so

The US administration said that it had received ‘written assurances’ from Ukraine that it would use cluster bombs carefully. Nonetheless, the munition will provide an additional risk to civilians.
It wouldn’t take much to turn this remotely operated mobile machine gun into an autonomous killer robot. Pfc. Rhita Daniel, U.S. Marine Corps

War in Ukraine accelerates global drive toward killer robots

The technology exists to build autonomous weapons. How well they would work and whether they could be adequately controlled are unknown. The Ukraine war has only turned up the pressure.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to the White House during a surprise visit to the U.S. in December 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

US military spending in Ukraine reached nearly $50 billion in 2022 – but no amount of money alone is enough to end the war

The US is giving record-high amounts of money to Ukraine, signaling it is invested in this war for the long run – a political science scholar explains 3 important things to know.
Over there, over there (again). Omar Marques/Getty Images

The US military presence in Europe has been declining for 30 years – the current crisis in Ukraine may reverse that trend

The Pentagon has announced that as many as 8,500 troops have been put on standby to be deployed in Europe as a counter to the threat of the Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s eastern border.
Packed and ready to leave? Perhaps not quite yet. Capt. Robyn Haake/US Army/AFP via Getty Images

The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion

The Pentagon has spent more than $800 billion on military operations in Iraq. But that doesn’t include money needed to care for veterans, rebuild the country or pay interest on war debt.
A new-generation weapon, in white, launches from an older one, the B-52 bomber. Mike Cassidy/U.S. Air Force

US, Russia, China race to develop hypersonic weapons

Missiles that fly 3,000 mph or faster – much faster than the speed of sound – are the next generation of high-technology weapons.

Top contributors

More