Officials at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, have offered the base as a semi-permanent test site for the Idaho Explosives Detection System, developed by the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory to detect explosives hidden in vehicles. The system uses neutron generators to “interrogate” a vehicle and cause transported materials to emit gamma rays whose explosive signatures can be identified and relayed to a laptop computer within 300 seconds. IEDS program manager Jeff Klinger says the system at Wright-Patt is “quick, inexpensive, and reliable.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to undertake far-reaching reforms on the way the U.S. military buys weapons, promising a sweeping overhaul of the way the Defense Department determines requirements, handles the acquisition process, and tests its kit. The fundamental goal, which Hegseth underscored in a 1-hour and 10-minute speech…


