Weekly News Update: 26 May 2023
20 - 26 May 2023
China faces a new wave of COVID that could see as many as 65 million cases per week. They also hacked into U.S. Navy systems in Guam. Russia is putting tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, as its invasion of Ukraine continues to fail. The U.S. military will have a fighter jock as its next senior officer. And an investigation has found that he defense primes are fleecing America.
Weekly News Round Up
Military
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
EU announces 11 new collaborative defense programs (DN)
Russian jet intercepts two U.S. bombers over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday (TH)
Ukraine may begin training on F-16s in Europe this summer (AFT)
Fighting spills into Russia, as Ukraine-backed partisans attack (MT)
Wagner Group boss says he’s lost 20,000 fighters in Bakhmut (MT)
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in Norway for exercises (NT)
U.S. Army opens new missile defense headquarters in Turkey (S&S)
China, Korea, and Asia
China hacks U.S. Navy equipment in Guam (WP)
China could see 65 million new COVID, XBB variant cases per week (WP)
U.S. Congress committee wants Taiwan weapons stockpile (DN)
Philippine army chief: China challenges us daily over territory disputes (BD)
China’s decision to ban Micron has spurred demands from US regulators to blacklist chipmaker Changxin (BBG)
Japan’s new military might is rising in a factory in Hiroshima (BBG)
Middle East and Africa
CENTCOM launches new naval task force to train partners (BD)
Iran may have a new underground nuclear facility (MT)
Iran shows off new ballistic missile (TH)
U.S. Defense modernization and innovation
POTUS nominates Air Force General to command NSA, Cyber Command (DN)
NGA making important progress on Project Maven AI (DN)
At EDGE23, U.S. Army, international partners break down data sharing walls (BD)
Air Force tests new Angry Kitten electronic warfare kit on Reaper drone (C4ISR)
THOR hammers drone swarm with high powered microwaves (ASF)
Army eyes new all-in-one proximity round for 30mm chain guns (T&P)
Army receives mixed signals from industry on radios-as-a-service (C4ISR)
U.S. Defense Industry News
POTUS seeks legislation allowing investment in Australia, British defense industries under the Defense Production Act (FT)
Bipartisan senators call for investigation into report of price gouging by defense contractors (TH)
Tech companies want to help defense (NYT)
Ursa Major wins Air Force contract for hypersonic, space launch engine (DN)
Boeing asks Air Force to shift hypersonics test to B-1, to preserve nuclear mission of B-52 (ASF)
Austal wins contract for first of seven ocean surveillance ships (BD)
Lockheed seeks to keep SPY-1 radar active in navies through 2060 (BD)
AeroVironment out of Army’s future tactical UAS competition (DN)
Northrop early-warning satellites pass early design review (C4ISR)
Lockheed paces JADC2 info-sharing at Northern Edge (C4ISR)
Foreign Defense Industry News
U.K. looks at more risk-taking in weapons development, integration (BD)
U.K. reveals AI tech demo for target identification (BD)
NATO needs more satellite imagery (C4ISR)
BAE Systems, Italy’s Iveco join forces to market amphibious combat vehicle (DN)
Missile-maker MBDA gears up for possilbe Spanish air defense deal (DN)
Boeing backs T-7 trainer, amid stinging GAO report that cites ‘tenuous’ strain with Air Force (BD)
Poland looks to buy early warning aircraft from Sweden (DN)
South Korea company fuses AI with imagery to detect ballistic missiles (C4ISR)
European fighter jet programs sharing some information (BD)
General Atomics, Spain’s Sener push sales of Reaper pods in Europe (C4ISR)
Malaysia ramps up spending on fighter, patrol jets (DN)
Space
NGA is mapping the moon for future navigation (C4ISR)
U.S. Space Force looks at hacking satellites (DO)
South Korea launches first commercial-grade satellite (MT)
Bezos' Blue Origin wins NASA contract to build astronaut lunar lander (RT)
SpaceX launches crew of private astronauts to space station (BBG)
Virgin Galactic makes successful test flight of space plane (WP)
NASA has discovered the remains of Hakuto-R’s lunar lander (LS)
Orbit Fab selects Impulse Space’s orbital vehicle for in-space refueling demo (SN)
US company Viasat has won unconditional EU approval to acquire rival British satellite company Inmarsat for $7.3B (RT)
Space robotics startup GITAI raised a $30M Series B extension from Global Brain CVC Funds and DCI Venture Growth Fund (PRN)
Small-launch firm rocket Rocket Lab will acquire bankrupt satellite launch firm Virgin Orbit's California HQ for $16M (RT)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
Insider threats still a concern for Dept of Energy security of nukes (TH)
Russia moves ahead with placing tactical nukes in Belarus (RT)
The Pentagon is helping bring the baby nuke industry to life (BBN)
Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Energy, and other cool tech
White House unveils plans to guide federal AI research (FT)
OpenAI offers $100k grants for ideas on AI governance (RT)
Figure, an AI robotics company building humanoid robots, raised a $70M Series A led by Parkway Venture Capital (PRN)
AI safety and research company Anthropic raised a $450M Series C led by Spark Capital (RT)
Nvidia market cap sky rockets on back of AI demand for company’s GPUs (WP)
The World Economic Forum published a white paper providing recommendations on regulations for crypto assets (CT)
3D printer manufacturing company Stratasys is in talks to acquire Alphabet-backed Desktop Metal in a potential $1.8B all-stock deal (BBG)
Spanish energy company Repsol will sell its 49% stake in Spanish wind farms and photovoltaic power plants for $771M-$881M (RT)
JPMorgan pledges $200M to suck carbon from the sky (BBG)
Musk’s Neuralink has won FDA approval for human trials (WP)
Important Reads
Lux Capital’s Josh Wolfe shared his company’s Q1 2023 letter to LPs here.
PitchBook released a Vertical Snapshot on Defense Tech here.
60 Minutes conducted an investigation that found defense contractors are price gouging. Read about it here.
Silicon Valley wants to help defend America. What’s stopping them? Learn more here.
Thales Group hacked an ESA satellite last month. What does that mean for cybersecurity in space? Read about it here.
Lighter Side
Jupiter’s swirls from Juno (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin M. Gill)
Keep building!
Andrew