Lockheed Martin Awarded Over $3 Billion in Govt Contracts in Just Two Days, As Military Frets About Russian, Chinese Advances

Concern about new Russian and Chinese hypersonic missile systems is not merely related to fears that the U.S. rivals will “outshine” in terms of technological superiority.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Ground crew members make the final checks to the X-51A Waverider scramjet -51 hypersonic before the Waverider's June 13 flight test. U.S. Air Force | Boeing

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Air Force announced within the span of two days earlier this week that it had awarded over $3.3 billion in contracts to U.S. weapons giant Lockheed Martin. The first of these contracts, totaling $480 million, was announced on Monday and tasked Lockheed with designing a new “hypersonic” missile. The new missile, known as the

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Artificial Intelligence Experts Warn of ‘Dystopian Future With Robots Flying Around Killing Everybody’

Experts warn autonomous weapons “could become powerful instruments of violence and oppression” and “easily spark an arms race” worldwide.

Jessica Corbett
By Jessica Corbett
Elon Musk: Why Artificial Intelligence Is More Dangerous Than North Korea

Thousands of artificial intelligence (AI) experts and developers have signed a pledge vowing to "neither participate in nor support the development, manufacture, trade, or use of lethal autonomous weapons," and imploring governments worldwide to work together to "create a future with strong international norms, regulations, and laws" barring

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White House Finalizing $100 Billion Arms Deal For Saudi Arabia, Israel

White House officials said the move would be good for the economy, and insisted that building Saudi Arabia’s already substantial military was “essential” because of regional problems.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis departs after his meeting with Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Jonathan Ernst/AP)

Earlier this month, US officials said the US was seeking to reach “billions” of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia as part of Trump’s visit to Riyadh. With a week left before the visit, officials now say the White House is very close to the deal, and that it will amount to over $100 billion in sales. Details are still emerging, but the plan

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US Tests ‘Hypersonic’ Weapon Designed To Reach 5 Times Speed Of Sound

Critics warn new class of weapons is leading to new global arms race and risks dangerous escalation.

Sarah Lazare
By Sarah Lazare
hypersonic

The U.S. military is taking the global arms race to new speeds, with the second test launching of an Advanced Hypersonic Weapon that has the ultimate aim of hitting targets anywhere on earth within an hour by traveling up to five times the speed of sound. But the test, which took place Monday at the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, was cut short

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Letting Slip The Robots Of War

The first-ever autonomous landing of a drone on an aircraft carrier heralds in a scary new era of post-human warfare.

Jeffrey Cavanaugh
By Jeffrey Cavanaugh
A X47-B Navy Drone is launched from the deck of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush off the Coast of Virginia Wednesday, July 10, 2013. It is the first landing by a drone on a Navy carrier. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The scene is one of the most iconic in all of cinema history. As it opens, we are greeted with a charnel house vision of a post-apocalyptic future. What was once a city full of life and vitality has been transformed into a blasted, irradiated landscape, covered with the twisted remnants of our former civilization. On a wrecked highway, scorched

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