Laura Heckmann

2 weeks ago | nationaldefensemagazine.org | Laura Heckmann

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — Space Systems Command certified United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket in March for national security space missions, while other companies are sure to follow, the leader of the command said. However, the growing sector may tax the capacity of the command's primary launch facilities. Lt. Gen.

2 weeks ago | nationaldefensemagazine.org | Laura Heckmann

Pentagon Ready to Let AI Make Some DecisionsAURORA, Colorado — In the wake of the release of the Chinese artificial intelligence tool DeepSeek — branded a “wake-up call” for the United States by President Donald Trump — the Defense Department is working with industry to harness the next breed of AI in the global race. In particular, the Pentagon is investing in agentic AI as increasingly sophisticated tools emerge not only across the United States but globally.

3 weeks ago | nationaldefensemagazine.org | Laura Heckmann

SPECIAL REPORT: Unions Say Retention, Not Hiring, Is Shipbuilders’ Biggest ProblemThis is part 2 of a 4-part special report on the shipbuilding industry. Stepping onto the dry dock of a shipyard, pummeled with smells of salt and welding fumes, “there are things that take you back in time, because you just recognize every one of those smells.

1 month ago | nationaldefensemagazine.org | Laura Heckmann

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The defense acquisition process has a reputation for being slow and cumbersome, and if the Pentagon is going to pick up the pace, experts said a good place to start is with overly complicated requirements. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, called requirements an “enormous problem,” speaking virtually during a panel at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Special Operations Symposium in February.

1 month ago | nationaldefensemagazine.org | Laura Heckmann

When Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced the trilateral AUKUS security agreement in September 2021, electronic warfare was not even listed among the technologies the partners planned to collaborate on as part of the agreement’s second pillar. When it was added months later, it not only recognized what the Defense Department called a “congested and competitive environment” but became the focus of the alliance’s first trilateral innovation competition.