Investment

Exclusive: Underwater Sensing Startup Andrenam Raises $18M

There’s a popular saying that we know less about the ocean than space. Andrenam is on a mission to change that.  The California-based startup is building a distributed network of underwater acoustic sensors and the AI-powered software to process all of the data they collect. That fits cleanly into the whole “maritime is all the […]

Pentagon

The Marines Take Allen Control Systems’ Counter-Drone Machine Gun Mobile

Allen Control Systems certainly isn’t resting on its laurels after raising $200M at a multi-billion-dollar valuation.  The Austin-based counter-drone startup announced this week that the Marine Corps has selected its Bullfrog robo-machine gun for the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS), the service’s most expeditionary vehicle-based c-UAS platform, under its broader Ground Based Air […]

Tech

Ukrainian-born UFORCE Inks a Deal to Build MAGURA USVs in the US

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 […]

EuropeTech

Lockheed Unveils a Patriot on a Budget and a Flying Drone-Zapper 

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 […]

Tech

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 […]

Pentagon

Neros Lands Army Contract Worth Up to $500M 

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 […]

PentagonTech

Drone-Boat Startups Take the Navy to Court 

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 […]

Tech

Lockheed Taps Machina Labs for JASSM Missile Parts 

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 […]