Weekly News Update: Aug 25, 2023
19 - 25 Aug 2023
Good morning and TGIF!
What a week! It looks like Russian president Putin had his former chef and crony - turned mercenary boss turned mutineer, Yevgeny Prigozhin killed in an airplane bombing. That’s not the only Russian thing that exploded this week. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, reported that their Luna-25 lunar lander had an issue during a routine orbital maneuver before crashing into the Moon. India’s Space Research Organization fared much better with the Vikram lander from their Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landing on the Moon’s surface. India is only the fourth country to succeed in a soft landing on the moon. The S&P followed Moody’s move last week to downgrade credit ratings on several U.S. banks. Chip-company, Nvidia, has carried the U.S. public markets. Nvidia was up 8% this week following its earnings call and up 350% YTD, thanks to demand for its graphics-processor units (GPUs) often used for artificial intelligence models. Finally, Spain routed England to win the women’s World Cup, with Olga Carmona scoring the lone goal.
Read more about the issues surrounding aerospace and defense technology below.
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Weekly News Round Up
Military
U.S. Defense modernization and innovation
U.S. Military at pivotal moment for biodefense, review warns (TH)
China, U.S. test intelligent-drone swarms in race for military AI dominance (WSJ)
Air Force collects submissions for Spark Tank innovation competition (AFT)
Air Force fires hypersonic ARRW in first test since March failure (DN)
Air Force Chief pushes for more autonomy in new doctrine (ASF)
Army approves Sentinel A4 air defense radar for low-rate production (DN)
Army Futures Chief: combine soldiers and machines (C4)
Europe, Russia, the Arctic, NATO, and the war in Ukraine
Wagner boss and Russian mutineer, Yevgeny Prigozhin, reportedly killed in plane crash in Russia (AP)
U.S. intelligence believes an intentional blast downed the plane (MT)
Norway joins the Netherlands and Denmark, giving F-16 jets to Ukraine (MT)
China, Korea, and Asia
U.S. State Department approves new $500M arms sale to Taiwan (AP)
Philippine supply boats breach Chinese coast guard blockade (MT)
Chinese military launches multiple drills around Taiwan (MT)
China accuses government worker of spying for the CIA in second public espionage claim (CNN)
China’s Huawei is building a collection of secret semiconductor factories to skirt U.S. sanctions (BBG)
N. Korea’s second attempt to launch spy satellite failed (MT)
Middle East and Africa
Iran unveils Mohajer-10 combat UAV, claiming extended range, payload (BD)
Russia continues playing chicken with U.S. planes over Syria (DO)
Saudi forces killed hundreds of Ethiopians at Yemen border, report says (WP)
U.S. readies plans to evacuate drone bases from Niger if necessary (MT)
Niger junta leader claims it will restore civilian rule within 3 years, but gives no details (AP)
U.S. Defense Industry News
AeroVironment will acquire AI-enabled robotic control systems leader Tomahawk Robotics for $120M in a cash-and-stock deal (BW)
Boeing, Lockheed to sell F-15 jets, Black Hawk helicopters to Indonesia (DN)
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to sell 8 MQ-9A Reaper drones to the Dutch Air Force (BD)
L3Harris, MAG to supply Army with ATHENA-equipped spy planes (C4)
Lockheed, Pratt win $1B in Navy deals for F-35 parts, equipment (DN)
Navistar to build trailers for AM General’s light tactical vehicle (DN)
Sikorsky wins $2.7B Navy contract for 35 CH-53 helicopters (DN)
Space Development Agency awards $1.5B for transport satellites to Lockheed and Northrop Grumman (C4)
ZeroEyes, a creator of AI-based gun detection video analytics platform, raised a $23M round led by Octave Ventures (FN)
State Department greenlights the following arms sales:
Foreign Defense Industry News
Brazil to double air fleet as part of $10.6B investment (DN)
Netherlands buys counter drone defense from Israel’s Elbit systems (C4)
Swedish government eyes combat vehicle production in Ukraine (DN)
Turkey’s Aselsan reports 42% rise in net profit for first half of 2023 (DN)
Turkey’s Havelsan tests robots, drone swarm for Digital Troop concept (DN)
Space
India successfully lands on the moon, rolls out rover (RT)
India’s success comes days after Russia’s Luna-25 lunar lander crashed (CNN)
Axiom Space, a Houston-based provider of human spaceflight services, raised a $350M Series C led by Aljazira Capital and Boryung Co (FN)
Startups are investing millions to make drugs and semiconductors in space (CNBC)
Nuclear Power & Weapons
Polish President Duda: Russia is moving nukes into Belarus (MT)
U.S. regulator OKs small, modular reactor emergency preparedness rule (WNN)
Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Energy, and other cool tech
Nvidia shares surged ~8% after beating Q2 earnings and revenue expectations as well as raising Q3 forecasts; the chipmaker forecast sales growth of 170% YoY in the current quarter (CNBC)
Semiconductor product manufacturer MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings will acquire Wolfspeed’s radio frequency business for $125M in a cash-and-stock deal (BW)
OpenAI acquires AI design studio Global Illumination (TC)
Deepfake imposter scams are driving a new wave of fraud (BBG)
A&D-Focused Finance
Saudi Arabia continues to ramp up investment into U.S. start-ups (CB)
The SEC approves sweeping regulatory changes on private equity and venture capital (FT)
William Cramsie joined Embedded Ventures as a Partner. Embedded Ventures is a Los Angeles based early stage venture capital firm focusing on companies that integrate the space industry with the terrestrial economy.
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Important Reads
Chris Harvey breaks down the SEC’s new Private Fund Adviser rules affecting venture.
Tired of being asked about UFOs, Space Force Major Brian Goodman explains what the Space Force actually does.
Ronan Farrow explains how the DoD became overly reliant on Elon Musk.
Axios Pro provides its State of VC, PE, and M&A 2023 report.
The Economist published a piece explaining how greying economies experience less innovation.
Financial Times has released its longlist of 15 books competing for the Business Book of the Year.
Lighter Side
A Season of Saturn
Image Credit & Copyright: Andy Casely
Keep building!
Andrew