News
Pentagon to start measuring troops’ body fat by waist-to-height ratio
The Pentagon on Monday issued a memo directing the U.S. military to evaluate the body fat of troops using a waist-to-height ratio, replacing traditional height-and-weight tables as the primary measure of physical standards. “The upper limit for allowable [waist-to-height-ratio] for Military Service body composition policies shall be less than 0.55,” the memo declared. The new body fat expectations...[Read More]
Pentagon to start measuring troops’ body fat by waist-to-height ratio
The Pentagon on Monday issued a memo directing the U.S. military to evaluate the body fat of troops using a waist-to-height ratio, replacing traditional height-and-weight tables as the primary measure of physical standards. “The upper limit for allowable [waist-to-height-ratio] for Military Service body composition policies shall be less than 0.55,” the memo declared. The new body fat expectations...[Read More]
Pentagon updates guidance on low testosterone testing for males
The Department of Defense on Thursday released clinical guidelines for testing and treating low testosterone in male service members. The initiative, first announced in a July memo by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is part of the agency’s Warfighter Performance Optimization program, which Hegseth announced in May. On Sept. 3, the Pentagon temporarily rescinded its published clinical guidance for ...[Read More]
Pentagon wants to use AI-generated ‘personalities’ for decoy cellphones
Using fake radio signals to spoof the enemy is a common stratagem. The Department of Defense wants to take that idea one step further and wield AI-generated “personalities” to mimic real people — and fool enemy AI trying to identify patterns in friendly cellphone traffic. The goal is to mask “digital exhaust,” the metadata automatically emitted by mobile phones, such as location and specific devic...[Read More]
Pentagon watchdog evaluating US military’s strikes on alleged drug boats
The Defense Department’s inspector general has initiated an evaluation of whether U.S. Southern Command followed Pentagon protocols when attacking suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. The operation, dubbed Southern Spear, has destroyed 58 vessels between Sept. 2 and May 12, according to data compiled by Military Times — as part of what the Trump administration...[Read More]
Pentagon, FAA sign agreement on deploying anti-drone laser system near Mexico
The Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon said on Friday they had signed an agreement allowing the government’s use of a high-energy laser counter-drone system along the southern U.S. border with Mexico. The agreement came after the FAA conducted testing in New Mexico on the laser system used by the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department and validated that proper safety controls are in p...[Read More]
Pentagon-funded research aided Chinese military, House GOP report says
Over a recent two-year period, the Pentagon funded hundreds of projects done in collaboration with universities in China and institutes linked to that nation’s defense industry, including many blacklisted by the U.S. government for working with the Chinese military, a congressional investigation has found. The report, released Friday by House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Chinese Comm...[Read More]
Pentagon’s FY27 budget seeks 85 F-35s, but most ride on reconciliation
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2027 budget request seeks 85 F-35 Lightning II fighters across the joint force, up from 47 in fiscal 2026. The increase would mark the largest single-year F-35 buy from the Pentagon since fiscal 2022 and a sharp reversal from last year’s reduced procurement. The headline number depends on Congress passing a separate funding bill. Only 32 of the 85 requested aircraft are funde...[Read More]
Pentagon’s NATO review preparing troop options for Hegseth by November 6
A Pentagon review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe will create at least four sets of options for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by Nov. 6, well ahead of a December deadline for the review’s completion, according to a document seen by Reuters. NATO allies worry that the six-month review, announced in June, will lead to large-scale cuts to the roughly 80,000 U.S. forces across Europe and punish c...[Read More]
Pentagon’s top new weapons programs are 12 years behind schedule: Watchdog
The news was almost predictable. For yet another year, auditors have found that America’s new weapons aren’t being delivered on time. “DOD plans to invest over $2.4 trillion to develop and acquire its costliest weapon programs,” according to the Government Accountability Office’s 2026 annual report on major defense acquisition programs, or MDAP. “Schedule delays persisted across MDAPs, signaling o...[Read More]
Pentagon’s women-in-combat review reassigned; deadline extended
A Pentagon-ordered review on the effectiveness of women in combat is now under new management, Military Times has learned. The six-month independent review, commissioned by Undersecretary of Defense Anthony Tata in December, was originally set to be performed by the Institute for Defense Analyses, a Washington, D.C.-area nonprofit that administers three research centers supported by federal fundin...[Read More]
PEO Digital Delivers: Flank Speed Wireless Supports POTUS, Sailors, and the Sea Power Demonstration
Flank Speed Wireless, born as a Sailor quality-of-life upgrade, proved its strategic power when it quietly enabled secure, seamless communications for the President and First Lady during the Navy’s 250th Birthday celebration at sea.