Defense

Looking for friends in all the right places: VA expands Facebook presence

Veterans Affairs is ramping up its social media savvy to reach more vets and their families.

Defense

Unions slam VA plan to track employees electronically

Ultrasound and infrared technology could locate people and objects equipped with wireless tags with an accuracy of 1 meter.

Tech

LightSquared cedes some authority, ditches power plan to save network

The company says it will give agencies veto power over its operation in upper bandwidth in return for a green light from FCC to operate in lower bands.

Defense

Army-Navy game rivalry plays out on Facebook, Twitter

The two services use football game-oriented social media to promote their key roles and missions.

Defense

Former Marine protests tech transfer, claims retaliation

Medal of Honor winner sought to block a plan to give advanced rifle scopes to Pakistan, then his boss and a Navy SPAWAR program manager portrayed him as mentally unstable.

News

Say goodbye to that personal printer

With an eye toward savings, the Veterans Affairs Department wants to cut 45,000 printers over the next five years.

Defense

Android is expected to soon win approval for use on military networks

Certification for unclassified Defense networks is predicted by year's end, for Secret networks by April 2012.

Defense

Defense agency eyes tablets and smartphones for Europe, Mideast and Africa

Planned procurement is viewed as endorsement of Apple and Google products for eventual global use.

Tech

NASA plans test flight of Orion space capsule in 2014

Agency reveals the plan in a low-key notice on the federal procurement website.

News

Navy says new network will cost $500 million a year less than previously estimated

New network "will generate savings relative to historical program spending," official says.

News

Congress to Defense: Focus on improving GPS receivers, not satellites

The Congressional Budget Office says the Pentagon could save billions and deploy new Global Positioning System receivers a decade earlier than planned.

News

Navy considers price critical in Next-Generation Network contract

NGEN is expected to cost $10 billion over five years -- double what the service spent on its current network.

News

Veterans Affairs CIO: Tablet computers could transform health care

Department kicked off a test of 1,000 Apple iPad tablet computers on Oct. 1 and eventually could deploy up to 100,000.

Tech

Transportation completes iPad test, eyes departmentwide use

Early results suggest the devices could work for employees who do not require full computing capability.

Defense

VA plans largest tablet computer deployment

Up to 100,000 devices will be managed through a vendor-operated cloud computing center.

Defense

Cost of new battlefield radio program pegged at $1.5 billion

Army wants to field at least 10,000 radios by 2014.

Defense

Flooded Walter Reed clinics to reopen Friday

Patients scheduled for treatment in the damaged clinics were relocated during the cleanup.

Defense

Agencies propose privacy training in wake of TRICARE data theft

Draft rule requiring all contractors to brush up on handling sensitive information in many cases codifies policies already in place.

Defense

Pentagon cancels $15.9 billion battlefield radio program

Officials seek industry-developed replacement for broadband system after spiraling costs trigger termination.

Defense

Class action suit seeks $4.9 billion in damages from TRICARE data theft

Plaintiffs allege the military health care provider put personal and sensitive information at risk by failing to encrypt the digital files.