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NatSecEDGE Special Report
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Dead Drop

NOUN

  1. A location to secretly pass information without a face-to-face meeting.

Each week we hope to give our readers tidbits of gossip from the world of national security and intelligence. The Dead Drop is a source of fun or intriguing news you can’t get anywhere else.

Got a tip for us? Email us at  thedeaddrop@thecipherbrief.com  and share the scoop. We promise to protect our sources and methods.

Below is our recent intelligence collection:

Dead Drop: January 18 - 24

HEAD GAMES ON THE USS FORD - Fresh from supporting U.S. operations off the coast of Venezuela, the USS Gerald R. Ford appears locked in a stubborn fight - not with an adversary, but with the head (Navy term for toilets.) According to Navy Times, the $13-billion supercarrier continues to rack up clogs in its vacuum waste system, occasionally requiring $400,000 acid flushes to blast the lines clear. More than 40 outside maintenance calls for help since 2023 suggest the fix is bigger than swabbie with a plunger. The size of the problem may be just one more argument for going with unmanned ships [...] Read More

Dead Drop: January 11 - 17

LICENSE TO EXPEL — DIPLOMACY GETS THE BOOT: Russia has ordered an unnamed British diplomat to leave Moscow within two weeks, accusing the official of [...] More

Dead Drop: January 4 - 10

NSA ENDS DEPUTY DIRECTOR DROUGHT: After a notably long stretch without a permanent senior civilian at Fort Meade, the National Security Agency has [...] More

Dead Drop Archive

Dead Drop: December 28 - January 4

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE DEAD DROP: If 2026 is anything like 2025, there will be no shortage of headlines full of absurdities, oddities and just plain [...] More

Dead Drop: December 21-27

YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP – If you are among those who spent the holidays dreaming of big beautiful battleships on the near horizon like the one [...] More

Dead Drop: December 14-20

COAST GUARD BACKS AWAY FROM “SWASTIKAS ARE JUST DIVISIVE” POLICY. SENATE BREATHES AGAIN -- After a week of self-inflicted chaos, the Coast Guard [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of December 7

THERE’S SOME WHACKY SH*T GOING ON AT NSA: It’s like leadership roulette at the National Security Agency (NSA), now with 100% more chaos. According to [...] More

The best national security gossip

THE MISSING ADMIRAL: There’s been a lot of media attention over the past few days about Frank “Mitch” Bradley – who back on September 2nd was a [...] More

Dead Drop: November 24

CODENAME 'INTELACCESS': For the first time ever in its decade of publishing national security insights from insiders, The Cipher Brief is offering a [...] More

Dead Drop: November 16

WHAT ABOUT THE SCULL AND CROSSBONES? The Washington Post reported recently that the U.S. Coast Guard had modified its stance on whether swastikas and [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of November 9

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: We assume the Trump administration elected to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War to send a [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of November 2

RECKLESS PEACEMAKER: MILEAGE MAY VARY – The Institute for Global Affairs — a think tank that measures global risk and public mood — just dropped a [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 26

RIGHT AND WONG: To say that there is a little sniping going on between federal government spokespeople and the media – might be underselling it just [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 19

WRECKING BALLROOM: There has been a ton of discussion over the past few days about the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make space [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 12

‘MUST SEE’ TV: Pete Hegseth has ordered Defense Department leaders to verify that every member of the Department has watched or read a transcript of [...] More