Remember all those videos of Ukrainian sea drones taking out Russia’s Black Sea Fleet? Well, the company making those is headed stateside under a new deal with a US boat-builder. Yesterday, British-Ukrainian defense tech startup UFORCE announced that it’s inked a deal with Oregon-based Special Operations-focused boat-builder ReconCraft to produce its now-famous MAGURA USVs on […]
To everyone who likes to bash the primes for not innovating fast enough—watch out, because you might just get what you ask for. At the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK yesterday, Lockheed Martin unveiled two new additions to its portfolio of air defense technologies: a lower-cost version of the Patriot (PAC-3 MSE) called the […]
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 […]
The FPV phenoms at Neros are on a heater. This week, the California-based drone startup snagged a five-year, $500M-ceiling US Army contract for its Archer FPV drones under the Purpose-Built Attritable System (PBAS) program. Neros’ Head of Growth, Ross Pedersen, told Tectonic that the Army has already placed orders for thousands of the drones against […]
If you thought all of the Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) cancellation drama was in the rear-view window, buckle up: We’re just getting started. Late last month, two unmanned surface vessel startups—Blue Water Autonomy and Saildrone—filed separate lawsuits against the Navy after their medium-USV designs were rejected from the MUSV marketplace that replaced the canceled […]
Turns out at least one old dog can, in fact, learn new tricks, or at least can find a young gun to teach it. This morning, robo-manufacturing startup Machina Labs announced that it’s inked a qualification contract with mega-prime Lockheed Martin (which, conveniently, also sits on Machina’s cap table through its venture arm) for Joint […]
In case you hadn’t noticed, the long-consolidated and constrained solid rocket motor (SRM) industry is getting dragged into the future with the help of a few startups, some fancy advanced manufacturing tech, and a military desperate to shore up its shrinking munitions stockpile. Ursa Major is one of the startups leading the charge. This morning, […]
The drone interceptor world is, like, hotter than hot right now, and investors aren’t showing any signs of backing down just yet. This morning, Singularity emerged after two years in stealth with an $80M Series A led by Khosla Ventures and Felicis, a $400M valuation, and a mission to deploy “low-cost air defense systems at […]
Minehunting is back in vogue, and for good reason. If you’ve been keeping an eye on a certain strait off the coast of Iran, sub-sea mines—or the threat of them—have been causing a whole lot of problems. The US Navy, which decommissioned half of its Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships last year, is looking for more […]
Europe—well, Germany especially—is having a heck of a year. This morning, the German defense tech juggernaut announced it’s raised a $1.8B Series E at an $18B valuation, setting a new record for Europe’s largest defense startup funding round after Quantum Systems’ $1.2B raise earlier this month. The Germans are taking this whole rearmament thing pretty […]
