Tara Copp

Read the latest stories and analysis from Tara Copp.

"It's not an alternative to the Joint Strike Fighter but what follows the Joint Strike Fighter,"said Defense Comptroller Mike McCord. (iStock)

National Security

Pentagon: Upgrading outdated weapons is a must

Tara Copp · February 3, 2015 12:49 am

Pentagon wants $8m to develop new fighter

National Security

Pentagon wants $8m to develop new fighter

Tara Copp · February 2, 2015 11:55 pm

National Security

Budget cuts Afghanistan forces to 5,500

Tara Copp · February 2, 2015 5:10 pm

Cost figures related to closing Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota are shown before the Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to save the base. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Why Congress doesn’t want another BRAC round

Tara Copp · February 2, 2015 10:00 am

National Security

It’s Groundhog Day for the defense budget

Tara Copp · February 1, 2015 10:00 am

Rescue workers try to pull out a piece of an exploded Grad missile outside an apartment building in Vostochniy district of Mariupol, Eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. The Ukrainian president called the blitz a terrorist attack and NATO and the U.S. demanded that Russia stop supporting the rebels. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

National Security

U.S. ups the ante against Russia

Tara Copp · January 30, 2015 10:00 am

Chinese soldiers march after the inspection of the honor guard during a welcome ceremony at PLA Headquarters in Beijing, China, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel, Pool)

National Security

U.S., China to hold defense talks

Tara Copp · January 29, 2015 10:07 pm

The commission tasked with finding ways to overhaul expensive military pay and compensation recommended allowing service members to enroll in a thrift savings plan, among 15 suggestions it presented Thursday. (iStock Photo)

National Security

Panel greenlights military retirement reforms

Tara Copp · January 29, 2015 6:35 pm

Hagel’s tenure: A rough start, a rough finish

National Security

Hagel’s tenure: A rough start, a rough finish

Tara Copp · January 29, 2015 10:03 am

Air Force One, carrying President Obama, passes a Boeing building while taxiing to take off Tuesday, July 22, 2014, from King County International Airport in Seattle. (AP Photo)

Boeing to build new Air Force One

Tara Copp · January 28, 2015 10:49 pm

The sixth-generation fighter would be a follow-on to the Air Forceâs F-22 Raptor (shown) and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

National Security

Pentagon asks Congress for sixth-generation fighter plane

Tara Copp · January 28, 2015 4:31 pm

US Africa Command Commander Gen. David Rodriguez speaks during a news briefing at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, on the Defense Department's response to Ebola. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

National Security

U.S. Africa Command: ‘We can’t see’ enough to monitor violent extremist groups

Tara Copp · January 28, 2015 12:41 am