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, on Wednesday, President Donald Trump unveiled his “AI Action Plan” to slash red tape for AI development, promote the export of American AI, and counter “ideological bias” in artificial intelligence. Plus, there’s all that fun countering China stuff. The plan is wide-ranging, but the 28-page document (paired with all of […]
If you thought the US was the only one in NATO speedrunning defense reforms, think again. This week, the UK and Germany both introduced programs to fast-track military modernization. On the UK side, the Brits showcased their new digital targeting system called ASGARD, while the German parliament passed the “Bundeswehrbeschaffungsbeschleunigungsgesetz” to accelerate weapons procurement. Yes, […]
The big money moves just keep on coming. This morning, edge computing company Armada announced a $131M strategic funding round, which it will use to build a new “megawatt-scale” modular data center called Leviathan. New investors Pinegrove, Veriten, and Glade Brook joined the round, alongside returning backers Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, 8090 Industries, […]
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 […]
If you know anything about drones, you know that there are a whole lot of them and a whole lot of companies making them. Integration startup Picogrid knows this better than anyone. The El Segundo-based company builds products that make these drones—and all of the other tech and software on the battlefield—work together. Like glue, […]
Big day for all the sustainment nerds out there. Yesterday, military logistics startup Rune Technologies announced they’ve raised a $24M Series A led by Human Capital, with participation from Pax VC and Washington Harbour Partners. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Point72 Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, and Forward Deployed VC also returned to the table. The raise […]
At a time when all of the big money movers are getting into defense tech, it’s only right for the OG to double down. On Monday, Booz Allen Hamilton, the century-old defense and intelligence consulting giant, announced a $200M boost to its venture arm, raising its total capital commitment to $300M. Rise of the primes: […]
Between Iron Dome and Golden Dome headlines, debates over the E-7 Wedgetail AEW&C and space-based ISR, and calls to send more Patriots to Ukraine, air and missile defense (AMD) is the talk of the town. But despite all this talk, US AMD is still pretty crap for a few key reasons: We still rely on […]
