As if one new military branch wasn’t enough—looking at you, Space Force—Trump may soon get a shot at another: Cyber Force. And the think tanks are already on the case. This week, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) announced they’re launching a new commission next […]
If you’re getting tired of reading about drones, you’re in the wrong place—because business is booming. Just look at Auterion: The autonomy software firm said Monday it will send 33,000 AI-powered drone guidance “strike kits” to Ukraine by year’s end under a new $50M Pentagon contract. While this isn’t Auterion’s first rodeo in Ukraine, it’s […]
Remember when we said maritime autonomy is all the rage? Well, looks like we were right. Yesterday, the Navy officially launched its Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) program with a nice lil solicitation. According to the doc, PMS 406–the unmanned maritime systems program office–is “seeking proposals for innovative, commercial technologies that accelerate attainment of [unmanned […]
Everyone loves a good competition. Last week, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) announced the ten finalists for its Low-Cost Sensing (LCS) challenge—a Replicator 2 initiative aimed at fielding cheap, scalable sensors to detect small drones. The finalists are set to go head-to-head at USNORTHCOM’s Falcon Peak exercise in September for a share of the prize […]
It should not bear repeating that cybersecurity is national security, but after a string of China-linked breaches, the Pentagon has gone on high alert to safeguard its software supply chain from foreign influence. The past 10 days have been cyber hell for the Pentagon: It’s been the kind of week that underscores why the ODNI […]
In case you missed it, Anduril announced late Friday that they’d been awarded a $99.6M, 11-month OTA contract to spearhead a next-generation command and control (NGC2) prototype for the 4th Infantry Division of the Army. The defense megalith will lead an all-star team—including heavyweights like Palantir, Govini, Microsoft, and Striveworks—in building an end-to-end system that […]
After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s UAS memo last week, we said small drones are having a moment. As it turns out, there’s just as much interest in the tech that takes them down. This morning, California-based cUAS maker Epirus announced it’s won a $43.5M contract from the US Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office […]
Just a month after raising $2.5B at a $30.5B valuation, officially entering “neo-prime” territory, Anduril looks more than ready to take on the real primes—this time in the cruise missile game. Anduril announced today that its Barracuda-100M autonomous air vehicle (AAV)—only unveiled last fall—has completed successful flight tests for the High-Speed Maneuverable Missile (HSMM) program […]
Drones are having a moment. Last Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released a memo that the Pentagon would be making some big changes to the way it buys, uses, and trains with drones. In true showman fashion, he announced the changes in a viral video set to Metallica’s Enter Sandman, posted on X with a […]
Well, it seems the Pentagon is taking the matter of rare earths into its own hands. Yesterday, the DoD announced it’s buying $400M of convertible preferred shares in Las Vegas-based rare earths mining company MP Materials, making it the company’s largest stakeholder with a 15% stake. The DoD will also issue MP a $150M loan […]
