The mini-fighter-drone competition is (quite literally) heating up. This morning, Shield AI and GE Aerospace announced that they’ve “successfully completed integration, actuation, and engine light-off testing of the advanced Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) for Shield AI’s X-BAT aircraft,” which they call a “critical milestone in the program’s path to vertical flight.” “X-BAT is designed […]
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 […]
If you thought Anduril was done churning out new platforms, think again. This morning at the Farnborough International Air Show, the defense tech giant unveiled a new Group 5 helicopter-like attack drone called Thunder, “specifically designed to multiply the combat power and increase the survivability of current and next-generation crewed attack and assault aircraft.” Think […]
We knew about the magical, never-empty American defense tech funding tap, but it turns out Europe has one too. This morning, European deep tech VC heavyweight Lakestar announced that it’s raised a $300M Resilience Fund I—dedicated specifically to defense and dual-use in Europe and across NATO-allied countries. “The dedicated Resilience I fund gives us the […]
If this is the week before Farnborough, we can’t possibly imagine what next week is going to be like. This morning, UK-based (and fairly sneaky) aerospace tech company Greenjets announced that it’s raised a $40M Series A led by Blossom Capital with participation from the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment […]
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 […]
Well, guys, the moment you’ve all been waiting for (or, at least, that some of you have been waiting for) has finally arrived. This morning, autonomous surface vessel (ASV) hotshot (and newly-minted member of Iran’s shit list) Saronic announced that it’s officially picked Brownsville, TX, as the site for its futuristic shipyard, Port Alpha. Saronic […]
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 […]
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 […]
In case you hadn’t noticed, the long-consolidated and constrained solid rocket motor (SRM) industry is getting dragged into the future with the help of a few startups, some fancy advanced manufacturing tech, and a military desperate to shore up its shrinking munitions stockpile. Ursa Major is one of the startups leading the charge. This morning, […]
