Lisbeth Perez MeriTalk Lisbeth Perez is a MeriTalk Senior Technology Reporter covering the intersection of government and technology.
Pentagon Taps 5 Winners in Drone Dominance Lethality Challenge May 19, 2026 | 3:08 pm The winning companies will move forward as preferred vendors in DOD’s next Drone Dominance Program ‘Gauntlet’ event later this year. […]
DOD IG Says Air Force Improved Cybersecurity at Critical Sites, but Gaps Remain May 19, 2026 | 11:04 am Audit finds unresolved cyber vulnerabilities at Air Force critical infrastructure sites are tied to insufficient staffing and lack of communication. […]
DOD IG Flags Advana Interface Control Weaknesses, Raising Data Accuracy Issues May 18, 2026 | 3:34 pm Inadequate security controls between the Pentagon’s Advana data repository and source systems create operational and security risks, an audit found. […]
Army, Allies Test 20 Counter-Drone Systems in Flytrap Exercise May 15, 2026 | 2:20 pm A recent multinational exercise in Lithuania evaluated more than 20 systems designed to combat unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, to evaluate how emerging counter-UAS capabilities will perform in realistic environments. […]
CBO Estimates Golden Dome Could Cost $1.2 Trillion Over 20 Years May 14, 2026 | 3:17 pm According to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” initiative could cost as much as $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy, and operate over 20 years, far exceeding the White House’s current $185 billion estimate. […]
Pentagon Taps Joseph Tonon to Lead DCSA May 11, 2026 | 3:12 pm The Department of Defense (DOD) selected Joseph Tonon to serve as the next director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), the agency announced. As director, Tonon will take on the agency’s longstanding challenge to modernize the federal government’s background investigations system. […]
Acting Navy Secretary Appoints William Toti to Acting Undersecretary Role May 8, 2026 | 3:21 pm Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao appointed retired U.S. Navy Capt. William Toti to perform the duties of the undersecretary of the Navy, according to a statement Cao published Friday on X. […]
Pentagon Begins Release of UAP Files May 8, 2026 | 2:48 pm The Department of Defense (DOD) today released the first tranche of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) files, opening decades of previously classified records to public scrutiny for the first time. […]
Space Force Boosts Andromeda Contract by $4.4B for Surveillance Satellites May 8, 2026 | 10:55 am The U.S. Space Force added $4.4 billion to its effort to develop space monitoring satellites and services, sending a 10-year contract vehicle from a ceiling value of $1.84 billion to $6.24 billion, according to a notice from the service. […]
DOD CDAO Wingman to Scale Automation Across Military May 7, 2026 | 3:12 pm The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is expanding the use of a new task automation platform dubbed CDAO Wingman. The platform is designed to help personnel build digital assistants to offload document-heavy and compliance driven workloads. […]