At the height of the Cold War in 1983, President Ronald Reagan proposed a space-based missile defense program called the Strategic Defense Initiative. He said it would protect the entire US from a nuclear attack, eventually making nuclear weapons obsolete. The plan was quickly dubbed “Star Wars” because it sounded like something out of a […]
Another day, another win for hypersonics. Startup defense manufacturer Castelion announced yesterday that it has raised $100M in debt and equity funding to build hypersonic missile systems. The round comprises $70M in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from a16z, Lavrock Ventures, Cantos, First In, BlueYard Capital, and Interlagos, and $30M […]
Amidst the flurry of executive orders and appointments in the past week, a Ukraine-shaped elephant has lurked in the corner of the Oval Office. President Trump has long expressed doubt over US support for Ukraine, repeatedly saying he would end the war in a matter of days. So far, he’s failed to do so—but is […]
Pete Hegseth was sworn in as Secretary of Defense Friday, bringing an end to a months-long confirmation saga that featured everything from strip clubs to claims of alcohol abuse to allegations of sexual assault. The final senate vote to confirm the former Fox & Friends host split the Senate 50-50, mostly along party lines (Republicans […]
Just days after being licensed by the DoD’s Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies (SBICCT) initiative, America’s Frontier Fund (AFF) announced it’s backing Venus Aerospace in its quest for hypersonic flight. Venus says the money from the Eric Schmidt and Peter Thiel-backed fund will help advance its VDR2 engine for use in high-speed capabilities from missiles to […]
When Raj Shah was tapped to launch the experimental Defense Innovation Unit (DIUx) in 2016, he could barely secure a budget. Raj was a former F-16 pilot and Wharton graduate. He knew that the kind of innovation that drove Silicon Valley could help close the yawning gaps he saw in US capabilities. But the rest […]
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration, the Pentagon quietly released a long-awaited piece of news: the implementation plan for PPBE reform. For those lucky enough not to know, PPBE stands for the DoD’s Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution process—essentially, the way the Pentagon buys stuff. Bureaucratic bungle: Critics across […]
In the waning days of the Biden Administration, it seems like everyone is talking about defense innovation. On Monday, the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) released the results of two studies on the US defense industry at its winter board meeting—“Scaling Nontraditional Defense Innovation” and “A Pathway to Scaling Unmanned Weapons Systems”—and it looks like Anduril […]
Looks like defense production is coming back to the Buckeye State. This morning, Anduril Technologies announced that it will build its long-anticipated Arsenal-1 hyperscale manufacturing facility in Columbus, OH. Anduril will invest $1B of its own capital in the plant, which at full capacity will span 5M+ square feet, employ 4,000 people, and produce tens […]
Hypersonic aircraft company Hermeus is taking testing into its own hands. Last week, the company announced that it had successfully tested a Pratt & Whitney F100 engine—the powerhouse behind the F15 and F16—in its new High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility (HEAT) in Jacksonville, FL. So what does that actually mean? The company can now test its engines […]
