Axios

The U.S. Air Force wants to buy 206 upgraded electronic-warfare packages for the F-16 over the next few years, budget documents show.

Why it matters: The Lockheed Martin-made warplanes could be outfitted with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite as soon as early 2028.

• "This is, essentially, putting sixth-generation electronic warfare into a fourth-generation platform," Mark Sandor, Northrop's director of strategy and mission solutions, told Axios.

General Dynamics Information Technology and NightDragon have teamed up and are on Wednesday making public their plans to accelerate U.S. government adoption of commercial and emerging tech.

Why it matters: Trump 2.0 is seeking new suppliers for the Pentagon and rewriting how the military does business.

• Symbiotic relationships between traditional primes and smaller, venture-backed startups are emerging — and appear to be bearing fruit.

Reveal Technology is eyeing U.S. Army and Marine Corps biometrics programs as it rolls out its handheld Identifi system to hundreds of special operators.

Why it matters: Military biometrics is ripe for disruption, according to CEO Garrett Smith.

• "When I started in the Marine Corps, there was a technology that we deployed with to Afghanistan," he said. "That is, essentially, the same technology that's been in place for like 20 years."

Business leaders and lawmakers are closely watching whether Trump returns from Beijing with a splashy Chinese investment commitment.

Why it matters: Such a deal would go further than the agricultural and aircraft purchases that have so far anchored U.S.-China negotiations.

• Trump has made big-dollar investment pledges a trademark of his second term, giving him numbers to tout back home, even as earlier commitments from the likes of Japan and Europe have yet to fully materialize.

Americans are spending more time at home, yet many have become strangers to their neighbors — especially young Americans, who are increasingly unlikely to socialize with those living feet away.

Why it matters: Without casual conversations with neighbors — who are often from other races, or have different religions and political ideologies — people risk becoming more isolated and more dependent on superficial, algorithm-driven digital communities.

A former girlfriend of Rep. Thomas Massie accused him this week of offering her $5,000 to drop a wrongful termination complaint against his close ally, Rep. Victoria Spartz.

Why it matters: Cynthia West's accusation surfaced a week before Massie's May 19 primary.

U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) is facing growing calls from Democrats to resign over what they say is her agreement with a radio host's derogatory comments about House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

Why it matters: The firestorm comes as Kiggans, who has denied any wrongdoing, is running for reelection in one of the most hotly contested battleground districts in the country.

With President Trump's proposal to suspend the gas tax facing headwinds on Capitol Hill, some Democratic lawmakers are offering alternative approaches to get fuel costs under control.

Why it matters: This goes beyond a simple debate about gas prices and taps into fundamental disagreements between the two parties about which parts of society should shoulder the costs of war and inflation.

A holy site home to a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ is in the crosshairs of President Trump's border wall construction plans.

Why it matters: The Trump administration is now suing a Catholic diocese to seize church land at the base of the holy site at Mount Cristo Rey, New Mexico, making it the latest hot spot of local resistance to border wall construction.

The chief U.S. regulator of increasingly popular prediction markets says he'll treat them as financial products, arguing that most people aren't using prediction markets for "entertainment."

Why it matters: Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are soaring in popularity, and most of their trading volume is on sports — fueling a growing fight with state gambling regulators.