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The Cipher Brief: National Security news, analysis and expert commentary.

How Ukraine’s Ground Robots Are Changing the Battlefield

Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi offers a glimpse of a battlefield where unmanned ground vehicles penetrate enemy lines, disrupt defenses and clear the way for infantry.

The 214th Separate Assault Battalion OPFOR Training Held In Ukraine

Operation Vivaldi, a Ukrainian military effort to repel Russian forces in the Donbas, has done much more than push back Moscow’s offensive in the [...] More

David Kirichenko Xen Europe Ukraine

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Opinion

The Pentagon’s Drone Revolution Starts With Soldiers

Joey Gagnard

Welcome to The Iron Triangle, the Cipher Brief column serving Procurement Officers tasked with buying the future, Investors funding the next generation of defense technology, and the Policy Wonks analyzing its impact on [...] More

Joey Gagnard
Opinion

America’s Military Has a GPS Problem

Walter Pincus

“The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Global Positioning System (GPS) is the principal source of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) information for the U.S. military and civilian users. Due to DoD’s reliance on it, [...] More

Walter Pincus Fine Print
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News & Analysis

US-UNITED NATIONS-AI

Exactly how could AI kill humans?

Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton walked out of a closed-door Capitol Hill briefing on September 17 and gave lawmakers a deadline.“Maybe a year, but not [...] More

National Security

Opinion

The Next Drone Won't Have a Radio Link, Our Intelligence Enterprise Needs to Plan for That Now

Peter Newell

The Next Drone Won't Have a Radio Link, Our Intelligence Enterprise Needs to Plan for That Now

On the last day of the 2026 World Cup, NORAD F-16s fired flares over northern New Jersey to warn off civilian pilots who had flown into restricted [...] More

Alternative Perspectives

What’s on The Cipher Brief’s Digital Channel

Book Reviews

The Striking Paradox Of Admiral Yamamoto
The Striking Paradox Of Admiral Yamamoto

Havana Syndrome: The Neverending Story
Havana Syndrome: The Neverending Story

Catch-22 Goes To Langley
Catch-22 Goes To Langley

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The Best National Security Gossip

UPLINK DOWN IN FLAMES: Two Turkish nationals have been detained in Germany over an alleged arson attack on a Starlink ground station in Poland. AP reports that Polish officials think Russian intelligence was behind the September 23 fire at Wola Krobowska, about 25 miles south of Warsaw. The station is run by the Polish state telecom Exatel and helps route satellite internet to Ukraine. An organization called Notes from Poland reports the two were picked up Monday in Nürtingen, near Stuttgart, at Warsaw’s request. “We have no doubt that Russian intelligence services are behind this act of sabotage,” said Tomasz Siemoniak, [...] More

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Events

Live Events

2026 Threat Conference

2026 Threat Conference

The Cipher Brief Threat Conference is the nation’s premier forum for non-partisan discussion of global threats and solutions as well as high-level [...] More

Upcoming: 25 October, 2026

The Cipher Brief 2027 HONORS Awards

The Cipher Brief 2027 HONORS Awards

Join us for the third annual Cipher Brief Honors Dinner, the evening of April 9, 2027. This Black-Tie event is invite-only. Please apply here for a [...] More

Upcoming: 09 April, 2027

Podcasts

State Secrets

A 10th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION of the State Secrets Podcast with Suzanne Kelly and Brad Christian as they share the behind-the-scenes stories from the past decade as The Cipher Brief prepares to host the Cipher Brief Threat Conference. From a world where terrorism was front and center and AI was still a curiosity, to today’s world, where China remains the pacing threat, and is buoyed by rapidly emerging technology and a new alignment with Russia, Iran and North Korea.