We told you that collabs were becoming a bit of a thing around here. Yesterday, drone visual navigation startup Vermeer announced a partnership with Sentry Operations, a low-profile terminal guidance and precision effects company. The two firms say they will work together to develop a full-stack, localized, and autonomous navigation platform for strike drones in […]
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 […]
Well, the drone dollars keep on coming. On Thursday, Alabama-based drone maker Performance Drone Works (PDW) secured a $35M strategic investment from Ondas Autonomous Systems (OAS), the drone and counter-drone business unit of Boston-based defense tech holding company Ondas Holdings. Speeding up: PDW was founded in 2018 out of the Drone Racing League (basically drone […]
The great leap across the pond continues. Yesterday, US defense tech giant Shield AI announced that it’s partnering with European autonomous flight company Destinus to “integrate Hivemind, Shield AI’s mission autonomy software, across Destinus’ aerial platforms.” “Destinus is one of Europe’s most consequential defense technology companies,” Chris Brinkley, Head of European Business Development and Strategy […]
Between raising $85M in October and inking deals with some big-time defense players, it’s been a whirlwind of a fall for HavocAI. On Wednesday, the Rhode Island-based maritime autonomy startup kept things hot, announcing a partnership with SAIC to integrate the defense software mega-contractor’s Joint Range Extension (JRE) multi-domain communications and data system with Havoc’s […]
If you’re a Payload reader, you’ve probably heard of Interlune. Luckily for us, the space resources startup is kicking off work a little closer to home. On Wednesday, in an exclusive release to Tectonic, Interlune announced that they’ve scored a $1.25M AFWERX contract to increase the terrestrial supply of helium-3—a rare isotope of helium critical […]
For all of the antiquated critiques that defense tech isn’t an investable sector, a whole lot of investors would beg to differ. On Monday, aviation autonomy hotshot Merlin announced over $75M in new private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing, increasing the total capital raised from $125M to more than $200M ahead of their expected […]
Christmas came early for the defense tech world. On Monday, Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering (USW(R&E)), Emil Michael, unveiled the six Critical Technology Areas (CTAs) that made the cut on the Pentagon’s pared-down list of priorities, a key signal of where the Department intends to direct R&D resources. Hope y’all aren’t too bummed […]
Despite the government being shut down for 43 days—the longest in US history—the Pentagon was certainly open for business. After the House struck a deal and President Trump signed a continuing resolution to keep the government open through January last week, the DoD’s workforce returned to their desks to announce nearly $9B in new contracts […]
It’s been (another) busy, busy week in defense tech, especially for everyone’s favorite globetrotting neo-prime. Over the past few days, Anduril has announced a new autonomous air vehicle (AAV) called Omen, its selection for the Army’s Integrated Battle Command System Maneuver (IBCS-M) program, a partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries on autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), and […]
