War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion

(NEWSER) - Financially grounded by the recession, the Pentagon and governments around the world are launching blimps to spy on their enemies, the Economist reports. Such balloons cost far less than Predator and Global Hawk drones—which can sell for $35 million each—and stay airborne for more than a week, while drones last about 30 hours. Blimps are also hard to shoot down, even when they are hit. More»

Pentagon develops apps for ubiquitous Apple devices

(NEWSER) - With more than 30,000 third-party applications now available for the iPhone and iPod touch, a new organization is getting into the game: the American military. As the Independent reports, the Pentagon thinks Apple's gadgets are ideal for "network centric warfare" and is funding projects for everything from translation to bomb disposal. Some soldiers on the front lines are already using the technology. More»

(NEWSER) - Conventional wisdom has it that Barack Obama will ask Robert Gates to keep his post as Secretary of Defense, but there’s no conventional wisdom about how wise that is. “It has more minuses than pluses,” opines one ex-Pentagon official, but others disagree. Some pros and cons:

• Gates would ensure a smooth wartime transition. (But that’s what the uniformed military leaders who actually run the war are for, and why they’re not appointed.)

Military will deny exit to some 12K a month through 2009

(NEWSER) - Soldiers are likely to face involuntary extensions of combat duty throughout 2009, USA Today reports, despite repeated Pentagon promises to rely less on the practice. Roughly 12,000 soldiers are hit with “stop loss”—which forces them to stay in the Army after their commitment has expired—each month, and that number is likely to remain constant throughout 2009, assuming the demand for troops remains constant. More than 140,000 have been affected since 2002. More»

$500,000 windfalls for next of kin can cause confusion, discord

(NEWSER) - The military pays $500,000 to the next of kin of every soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the sudden injection of cash during a time of grief often throws survivors off balance. Young military spouses can struggle with money management and long-lost friends and relatives sometimes appear asking for handouts. Some military kin have quickly ended up destitute. More»