If you’re a regular reader of Tectonic, you’ll know that the Navy is majorly changing the way it does things. There’s the Trump administration and SecNav Phelan’s focus on amping up shipbuilding, the push to amp up capabilities by 2027, and—just last week—the introduction of the Naval Rapid Capabilities Office. And that’s just the beginning, […]
Death, taxes, and the primes hopping on the drone hype train. On Friday, L3Harris Technologies announced a “new Counter-Unmanned Systems (C-UxS) initiative” to “overcome unmanned threats across the air, land and sea domains.” Welcome to the club. The company said the “new effort provides expanded and customized C-UxS offerings by combining existing solutions with other […]
The space industry is evolving at a breakneck pace, with government and commercial players alike under pressure to deploy satellites faster, cheaper, and more securely. For many, the hidden cost lies not in launch or hardware, but in the complex world of mission operations. That’s where Quindar, a three-and-a-half-year-old startup, is establishing itself. “Everyone has […]
Well, the rumors are true. Yesterday, in a typically stylized video (we see you, Pentagon green room), SecDef Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a joint interagency anti-drone task force that will “bring together our best talent from all our agencies to counter these threats and restore control of our skies.” (This was first reported […]
One cat, two cat, Red Cat, Blue…Ops? (Sorry.) Earlier this week, aerial drone-maker Red Cat Holdings ($RCAT) announced the launch of a maritime division called Blue Ops, diving headfirst into the ever-growing unmanned surface vehicle (USV) space. Maritime autonomy, all the rage, et cetera, et cetera. Sky to sea: So far, Red Cat’s eyes have […]
Who said the primes don’t move fast enough? Sixteen months after they scored a contract to build an autonomous friend for fighter jets (technical term), General Atomics’ YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) took flight on Wednesday. For now, GA has first-flight bragging rights, but Anduril—the other company selected for the CCA program—says it is close […]
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a bit of a shakeup in the DoD innovation world in the past week. The head of DIU is out, critical technology areas are changing, the Navy is overhauling how it develops and adopts new tech, and JCIDS is dead. Oh yeah, and then there’s the whole Defense […]
Looks like we’re on a bit of a maritime kick today. This morning, unmanned surface vessel (USV) company Saildrone announced that its 65-foot Surveyor vessel has received full classification from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Now, what does that mean for us non-seafaring laypeople? Basically, the company’s big-boy sailboat drone has been inspected and […]
There are a lot of startups out there making autonomous speedboats and small surface vehicles, but Blue Water Autonomy is thinking bigger: The newly launched maritime autonomy company is going all in on a 150-foot autonomous warship. And it seems like investors like the idea. On Tuesday, just four months after emerging from stealth, the […]
In case you haven’t heard (we know you have), quantum computing is the next hot thing. And New Mexico and Roadrunner Venture Studios are getting in on the trend. Yesterday, the venture studio announced that it will lead a $25M initiative backed by the New Mexico Economic Development Department to build a quantum campus in […]
