Latest Stories
Shield AI Successfully Tests GE Engine for X-BAT
The mini-fighter-drone competition is (quite literally) heating up. This morning, Shield AI and GE Aerospace announced that they’ve “successfully completed integration, actuation, and engine light-off testing of the advanced Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) for Shield AI’s X-BAT aircraft,” which they call a “critical milestone in the program’s path to vertical flight.” “X-BAT is designed […]
X-Bow Unveils New Low-Cost “Supersonic” Interceptor
If we’ve learned one thing from the war in Iran (and, like, years of watching Ukraine), it’s the very real and very urgent need for cheaper air defense systems that can ease the burden on the super-pricey, exquisite interceptors that make up the bulk of America’s defensive capabilities. At the Farnborough International Airshow in the […]
Anduril Unveils Thunder Unmanned Attack Aircraft
If you thought Anduril was done churning out new platforms, think again. This morning at the Farnborough International Air Show, the defense tech giant unveiled a new Group 5 helicopter-like attack drone called Thunder, “specifically designed to multiply the combat power and increase the survivability of current and next-generation crewed attack and assault aircraft.” Think […]
Lakestar Raises $300M Resilience Fund I
We knew about the magical, never-empty American defense tech funding tap, but it turns out Europe has one too. This morning, European deep tech VC heavyweight Lakestar announced that it’s raised a $300M Resilience Fund I—dedicated specifically to defense and dual-use in Europe and across NATO-allied countries. “The dedicated Resilience I fund gives us the […]
A Q + A with Matt Cronin, Senior National Security Advisor at a16z
If there is one VC fund you know in the defense tech world, it’s probably Andreesen Horowitz—or a16z, as the cool kids say. The firm—which just raised a casual $15B, including $1.176B for its “national interest” (defense and deep tech) focused American Dynamism fund—has backed some of the biggest names in the game, including Anduril, […]
Q + A: A.J. Bertone, Managing Partner, In-Q-Tel
If you’ve been paying attention to the past year of Tectonic (!!), you’ll recognize a sneaky three-letter acronym that pops up on a lot of defense tech cap tables: IQT. For those lucky enough not to be in the know, that stands for In-Q-Tel, a not-for-profit venture fund backed by the US government and investing […]
A Q+A with Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
Mark Esper has spent a whole heck of a lot of time in the defense ecosystem. After a decade in uniform in the US Army, he worked as a congressional staffer, a senior policy aide to Sens. Chuck Hagel and Bill Frist, and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the early 2000s. Then, he […]
A Q+A with Alex Ferrara, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners
If there is one fund that knows how to deploy big-time cash into tech companies, it’s Bessemer Venture Partners. The Silicon Valley fund has about $19B under management, and has invested in tech giants from LinkedIn (everyone’s fav) to Shopify. This year, the fund has turned to defense—specifically, European defense. They led Auterion’s $130M Series […]
