Tech

Shield AI and Leonardo Team Up for Heli-Drones

Last year, it was all, “Everyone loves a tiny little autonomous plane.” Now it’s all, “Everyone loves a tiny little helicopter.” What’s next? Yesterday, autonomy giant Shield AI announced that it’s inked a partnership with European prime Leonardo to integrate its flagship Hivemind autonomy stack onto Proteus, the prime’s “uncrewed rotorcraft” (read: helicopter drone). “Leonardo […]

Barratt Dewey
InvestmentTech

ICYMI: Watchtower Labs Exits the Shadows with a $35M Seed

In case you missed it, there is a new player on the unsexy side of defense. Last week, a new AI-powered planning and logistics company called Watchtower Labs emerged from stealth with $35M in seed funding led by Shield Capital and Conviction, with participation from Founders Fund. The idea is to build “AI-native applications that […]

PentagonTech

Nominal Secures $71M to Expand Across Collaborative Combat Aircraft Testing

The data nerds over at Nominal are (still) on a bit of a heater, this time with one of the Air Force’s most ambitious programs. The testing startup announced yesterday that it’s been selected for a $71.2M AFWERX Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI)—split between $30M of Nominal’s own cash and $41.2M of government funding—to expand its […]

PentagonTech

Applied Intuition Secures $25M Navy Contract for Onboard AI Data Infrastructure

Secretary Pete Hegseth has pledged to make the US military an “AI-first warfighting force,” and the Navy is taking that on board. Literally.  Yesterday, autonomy software giant Applied Intuition announced that the US Navy has tapped it to deploy a new AI-powered sensor fusion and data-collection system “across the manned and unmanned fleet,” starting with […]

InvestmentTech

Arda Emerges from Stealth with $232M for Automated Manufacturing

Remember the olden days when companies emerged from stealth with, like, $5M in funding and a dream? Yeah. It would appear those days are long gone. Earlier this week, manufacturing software startup Arda emerged from stealth with $232M in total funding and a pretty flashy first customer: Anduril. Design within reach: Arda’s company’s flagship software […]

PentagonTech

Long Wall Scores $75M MDA Contract

Turns out 2026 is a great year to be a low-cost interceptor company. This morning, launch hotshot-turned-missile-defense-darling Long Wall (née ABL Space Systems) announced that it’s been awarded a $75M contract from the US Missile Defense Agency to “complete flight testing of [its] Cyclops low-cost interceptor.” “Demand for interceptors has surged, while low production capacity […]

Tech

Valinor Launches Military Facility Maintenance Platform 

You know how we keep saying that Valinor has made solving the US military’s least sexy, most overlooked problems their whole thing?  Well, they’re taking that to the next level with their newest product company: A software-defined facility management system called Terra that aims to bring predictive maintenance, smart sensors, and mold detection into the […]